Densenbyou
by Kaeru Soyokaze
Summary: When youkai start getting ill and shrinking, it's up to the Mirror Holders and Kurama to find a cure before it's too late! Third book in the Densetsu no Kagami series. DONE!
1. The Plotting Begins

Well, people, here's my newest project. Story. Whatever. ^^;; Welcome to the newest story in the Densetsu no Kagami quartet: Densebyou. If you're new to the series, you may want to read Densetsu no Kagami first, and then Yarikake. Or not. It's really up to you, but I'm looking forward to seeing some of my old reviewers again, and hopefully some new ones too. To start things off, I'd just like to say a disclaimer.   
  
Pug: snort snort snort *gasp* snort snort *wheeze* snort!  
  
*coughs* In other words, I do not own the Yu Yu Hakusho characters. I only own Kia, Kage, Kodoma Binetsu, that one guy, a bunch of random youkai, and probably some others, like Ashita and Tsukai, Hiketsu, Fukumi, Meikyou and Nasei, the sea monkeys, and stuff. I do NOT own Kelsey and Rei, but...ah, well, I have permission to USE them. Pay attention to a casual reference in this chapter...it will come in handy, maybe not in this story, but we'll see...I think that's all I own.  
  
Pug: SNORT!  
  
Oh, yes. And the pug. Now then, let's get started!  
  
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A pair of eyes, one blue, one brown lit up gleefully. "I did it, I did it, I did it-" (A/N: Oddly reminded of that part in HP book 5... "He got off, he got off, he got off" El bajo, ne, Kelsey? ^^)  
  
"Um...you did it, m'lady?" A mousy-looking brown-haired man looked up in fearful surprise at the owner of the eyes and happy voice.  
  
She stopped twirling around, a deliriously happy expression on her flushed face. "I recreated it...it's been EVER so long and I thought it was gone forever, but I've done it!"  
  
"Very good, Kodoma-sama," the man approved. "What are you going to do with it?"  
  
"Hm..." She paused, eyes glazing over in thought. "That's a good question." Her face brightened again. "Those two! The ones who killed Netami!"  
  
She skipped over to a stone well that stood in the middle of the cramped chamber. Staring down into the still, dark water, she intoned, "Show me."  
  
Instantly, the water rippled, the surface brightening to reveal a bright, snowy city landscape, all of the buildings looking like they were covered in a soft white blanket. Like a camera, the picture soon zeroed in and focused on three young people in scarves and jackets, a male and two females. All three were carrying schoolbags and talking animatedly. The male had purple-magenta pants, a tan coat that he wore over his matching top, a black scarf, long crimson hair, and vivid green eyes. The taller of the girls was blonde with gray eyes, sporting a bright blue scarf and a black coat. The other female had dark brown eyes. Her hair, also a rich brown, was gathered into a high ponytail. A light purple scarf was wrapped around her neck and she wore a black jacket. Both girls wore the same pleated magenta skirt.  
  
"Tell me," was the next command issued. The silent conversation became audible.  
  
"Next weeeek is winter breeeeak!" The blonde sang out, dropping her schoolbag on the other female's foot, throwing up her arms, and twirling around in large dizzy circles, almost hitting the boy, who looked on amusedly.  
  
The other girl winced, gingerly drawing her foot out from under the bag. "Be careful with that-it feels like you've got bricks instead of books in there, Kelsey." She grinned. "Or Axe. Did you kidnap him from Rei?"  
  
The one called Kelsey laughed. "I'm not THAT crazy, Kia! Not to mention Axe is too big for me to cram into my schoolbag. Nope, all that is books." She let out a wistful sigh. "Almost winter break..."  
  
"Really dreading it, aren't you?" Kia's grin broadened.  
  
"Oh, yes," her friend agreed with a straight face. "I wish school would NEVER end! Who needs weekends, anyway?"  
  
"Those of us who enjoy extra hours of sleep," the boy spoke up, emerald eyes twinkling.  
  
"Kurama..." Kia groaned, rolling her eyes good-naturedly. "You get up at the same time EVERY DAY!"  
  
"Five o'clock," Kelsey agreed. "I don't get how you can DO that!"  
  
Kurama smiled. "Practice." Carefully keeping his features composed, he pointed out, "Perhaps if you two didn't 'rest your eyes' so much in class, you would find school easier to understand and tolerate."  
  
Kelsey flapped a hand, dismissing his mild reproof. "We have a very good excuse-er...reason!"  
  
"YOU try sealing seven monsters and tell ME how much sleep you can get!" Kia told Kurama, attempting a scowl, which quickly turned into a yawn.  
  
His eyes softened and he placed a hand on her head. "Have you two recovered from that yet? No more nightmares?"  
  
Kia and Kelsey exchanged looks and the former ducked from under the Youko's palm. "It's a little hard to forget all of that..." Kelsey muttered, gray eyes darkening like storm clouds.  
  
Kia nodded. "All those people...and Koenma couldn't bring them all back to life..."  
  
"You did all that you could," Kurama said gently. "And more would've died if you girls hadn't done something."  
  
The two holders of the Densetsu no Kagami still looked somewhat forlorn. Kelsey then gave her head a shake, blonde tresses flying. "Sooo...Kurama...saw you talking to a girl awhile ago, and I'm not talking about Mayaka."  
  
"And she wasn't screaming 'Shuuuiiiichiiii!!' and trying to molest you??" Kia let out a low whistle. "And I thought we were the only ones."  
  
"Pretty too," Kelsey remarked. "But she had an odd name...Chick?"  
  
"Chick?" Her friend raised an eyebrow. "I thought her name was Chit, if that's who you're talking about. He kept saying that in his sleep when he slept over last time, remember?"  
  
"What kind of a name is 'Chit'?" Kelsey snorted. "Chit Chat?"  
  
"What kind of a name is 'Chick'?" Kia countered immediately.   
  
"Don't ask me, I didn't name her! Maybe her parents were trying for a barnyard theme-"  
  
Kurama's head was swiveling back and forth between the two Mirror Holders, color slowly rising in his face. "Actually," he said very quietly, "Kia's closer."  
  
"Ha." Kia stuck her tongue out at Kelsey.  
  
  
  
"It's still a weird name," the younger girl grumbled, kicking aside snow from the path.  
  
"I believe this is where you and I part ways," the redheaded, red-faced Youko said quickly, although his smile was apologetic. He turned to the left, lifting a hand in casual farewell.  
  
"Coward!" Kelsey yelled at his retreating back. "I'll get you on Monday!"   
  
Kia shook her head, as the girls turned right and headed to Suzuki's house. "Since when did we become interrogators?"  
  
"Since...since..." the blonde girl paused. "Since Kurama has an eligible girlfriend!"  
  
Her friend blinked. "She's his girlfriend because she talked to him? If that's true, Kurama'd be a polygamist by now."  
  
"He should be a Mormon," Kelsey agreed solemnly. (A/N: To all LDS/Mormon, don't take that personally, and please don't be offended. I don't know why you'd be, since I live in Utah currently. *sigh*) "His wife count would be twenty-three."  
  
"You're only counting OUR grade," Kia pointed out. "Counting everyone else..." She closed her eyes briefly. "Three hundred and fifty-six wives."  
  
"That'd be a lot!"  
  
Both girls jumped back in surprise as a grinning face peeked at them from a tree just in front of them. Bright red hair hung from his head as the boy dropped slightly, hooking his legs around a branch and dangling upside down. Vivid blue eyes twinkled as he surveyed the Mirror Holders.  
  
"Jin!!" Kia gasped, finally recovering from shock, lowering her schoolbag from its defensive position.  
  
"Don't DO that!" Kelsey yelled, her heart hammering in her chest. "You scared us half to death!"  
  
  
  
The Wind Master dropped to the ground with a thump, guiltily fingering the small white horn planted in the middle of his flaming hair. "Sorry 'bout that..."  
  
"What are you doing out here?" Kia wanted to know, giving the shivering Shinobi a hug.  
  
Jin grew warmer, and it wasn't just the girl's own body heat that lent to his own. Trying to clamp down a blush, he grinned again. "Shishi found a mouse."  
  
"A mouse?" Both of Kelsey's pale eyebrows shot up.  
  
"Hai. An' he freaked out, so I went t'meet you...an' t'warn you."  
  
Kia rolled her eyes. "A mouse. What say we just stay out here, Kelsey? Four hours ought to do it."  
  
"As tempting as that sounds..." Kelsey sighed heavily. "We must aid Shishi in his battle against the mouse."  
  
To the girl staring into the well, and the man peering nervously over her shoulder, the conversation slowly faded as the trio walked on, Kelsey obviously teasing Jin about something, for the Wind Master was starting to turn even redder.  
  
Abruptly, the girl turned away from the image, striding over to a cupboard, where she started pulling things down. "Mirror Holders..." she whispered, eyes glowing with excitement. "Prepare yourselves for a little visit..."  
  
*OOC*  
  
Okay, I know it was short, but the first chapter is ALWAYS short. ^^ Next chapter will be longer, I promise! SPEAKING of next chapter...  
  
* Shishi vs. the Mouse...who will win? Well, actually...it's more like Shishi vs. the Mouse and Rei. Looks like the little squeaker has an ally.  
  
* It's a visit! A strange visit! Just who IS this little girl and what's with her bag of baking soda?  
  
* Shishiwakamaru falls ill! Can Suzuki discover what's going on before he...uh-oh!  
  
^^;; Please review, minna-san! The pug and I will love you! 


	2. A Surprise Visitor

*sigh* Looks like out-takes might take awhile to get up...I was a little enthusiastic, so it may take me some time to get them all written down and neatened up. Now then...last chapter, we were reintroduced to the Mirror Holders, Kelsey and Kia and the introduction of a mysterious stranger...is she a friend or a foe? Just WHAT does she intend to do? We're about to find out...and the tumultuous battle between Shishiwakamaru and a little mouse! Who will emerge victorious??  
  
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"No, you are NOT keeping it!!" Shishiwakamaru howled, his normally pale face turning a bright and blotchy red.  
  
Rei inched behind Kia. "But it's so kawaii!!" She protested. The smaller Mirror Holder sweatdropped at the Priestess' choice of shield.   
  
"No!" The samurai repeated. "That...that THING isn't staying here!"  
  
"It's called a mouse, Shishi," Suzuki said amusedly.  
  
"Guess he was never a Mouseketeer," Kelsey told Kia. The two exchanged looks, and then Kia burst into song.  
  
"Now it's time to say good-bye to all the family! M-I-C-"  
  
"See you REAL soon!" Kelsey interjected.  
  
"K-E-Y-"  
  
"Why? Because we LOVE you!"  
  
Suzuki, Rei, and Hiei were all snickering now.  
  
"M-O-U-S-EEEEEEEEE!" Both girls warbled. Everyone burst into applause, with the exception of the sour-faced Shishiwakamaru. Even Touya and Hiei were smiling. Or smirking, in the Jaganshi's case.  
  
"And besides, it's for Rinku when he comes back," Rei assured the scowling samurai. "Axe doesn't like mice."  
  
Shishiwakamaru muttered and grumbled, but Rei had skipped out from behind Kia and went into the kitchen, singing, "Sustenance for the mousie!"  
  
Kia sighed, settling on the couch with Kelsey and Touya. Kage, the large black canine, shifted carefully so that the Ice Master didn't sit on his tail, and went back to sleep. Hiei went into his room, and Suzuki sat in one of his armchairs, reading a tabloid magazine. Shishiwakamaru still stood there, scowl firmly planted on his face. He was STILL glaring at nothing or no one in particular twenty-three minutes later. Kia and Kelsey were trying to teach Jin and Touya how to play Slide.  
  
"Okay, you're on three now...so do three on each hand, then back of hands, front, clap, and do it two more times..."  
  
Touya was fairly good at it, and Jin's energetic enthusiasm kept him going. The two had progressed all the way to twelve, when an unexpected rap on the front door made Jin lose his concentration and the pattern of the hand claps.  
  
"You did great!" Kia reassured the forlorn Wind Master. "I've only made it up to eight."  
  
Kelsey nodded. "Who knows how far you could've gone, if someone hadn't been at the door."  
  
"Speaking of the door..." Suzuki raised a pale eyebrow.   
  
"I'll get it," Shishiwakamaru grumped, marching purposefully towards the door. The others could hear him open it. Jin and Touya returned to playing Slide under Kia's watchful eye, and Kelsey started instructing Suzuki on how to play.  
  
Once he had pulled the door open, Shishiwakamaru found himself staring down at a little ningen girl. Most of her light brown hair was cut to just above her shoulders, with two plump pigtails trailing to her upper back. A bright red cloth was tied securely around her head, nestled under her bangs. She wore a light pink sundress and white sandals. She also had on a pair of ridiculously large, dark sunglasses that threatened to engulf her face. In her left hand, she clutched a brown paper sack.  
  
"You're not one of those Girl Scouts, are you?" Shishiwakamaru said warily. One of the little brats had nailed him in the eyes with pepper spray when he had tried to take a box of Thin Mints without paying. Kia and Kelsey had finally taken pity on him after a full forty-five minutes of laughing, and had helped him to wash the substance from his searing eyes. Understandably, he was a bit more cautious now.  
  
The girl giggled shrilly. "Of course not! Are Kelsey and Kia home?"  
  
The youkai hesitated. "Why do YOU want to know?" he said finally.  
  
She made a cute moue. "Gee, Mister Pretty Man, I just wanna play with 'em!"  
  
"They're not here," he said curtly.  
  
"Oh." The child pouted, then brightened. "S'okay! You'll do just fine, then!" She plunged her hand into the bag, withdrawing a fistful of something that vaguely resembled baking soda. A second later, she had thrown the whole mess into his face.  
  
Bewildered, Shishiwakamaru sneezed, backing away and rubbing his tearing eyes. Why was it always his eyes that got the brunt of these attacks?? Once he could see clearly again, he looked around for the little girl, ready to give her a sound thrashing. But she was gone.  
  
"Little brat," he muttered darkly, closing the door firmly and locking it.  
  
"Who was it?" Kia asked curiously, as Shishiwakamaru rejoined them in the living room.  
  
"Girl Scout," he grunted.  
  
"...You didn't try to steal the Peanut Butter Patties, did you?" Kelsey blinked.  
  
"Or the Thin Mints again?" Kia added, discreetly shoving Suzuki's magazine under the couch.  
  
"Or the Samoas?"  
  
"Or the Shortbread?"  
  
"Girls..." Touya reprimanded gently. They obediently shut up.  
  
"Didn't steal nothin'..." Shishiwakamaru muttered, closing his eyes and massaging his temples with his fingertips.  
  
Suzuki frowned, forgetting his search for the tabloid articles to take a closer look at his friend. "You don't look too well, Shishi. Maybe you should go lie down."  
  
"Hmm...yes, that sounds nice..." the samurai started for his room.  
  
Jin and Touya shrugged, both concentrating on reaching twenty-three in hand claps. Kia looked expectantly at Kia, who turned and held up her hands. They started to play as well.  
  
Kage suddenly growled, then began to bark.  
  
"...Kage?" Kia faltered and looked over at the black dog.  
  
-Shishiwakamaru!-  
  
Automatically, both girls looked towards Shishi's room...but apparently, the blue-haired youkai had never reached it. He lay on the floor, arms and legs akimbo.   
  
"SHISHI!" Kelsey shrieked, leaping off the couch and sprinting to his side. Kia was right at her heels, kneeling and checking his pulse. She frowned, then felt his forehead-and yelped, jerking her hand back, shaking it frantically.  
  
"What's the matter?" Kelsey asked her friend, as she tried to haul Shishiwakamaru up.  
  
"He's...he's..." Kia held up her hand, which had turned bright red, then blew on it. "He's burning up!!"  
  
"He always DID insist he was hot," Suzuki murmured, hurrying over and hoisting the unconscious samurai over his shoulder.  
  
"That was REALLY bad," Kia informed him.  
  
"Of course it was." He disappeared into the room that he and Shishiwakamaru shared.  
  
"I hope he's okay," Kelsey said quietly.  
  
"What in the worlds could have gotten him so sick...and so fast?" Kia wondered, patting her friend's shoulder.  
  
"It DOES seem a bit unnatural," Touya remarked, abandoning the hand game and folding his hands neatly in his lap.  
  
"Just a bit?" Jin frowned. "This whole thing stinks of magic. Or reiki."  
  
"Windy's right." Suzuki had returned. He suddenly looked much older...and tired. "He couldn't possibly have developed so high a fever in such a short amount of time, unless something else was involved."  
  
"How high?" Kelsey asked tersely.  
  
The martial artist's mouth tightened and thinned into a grim line. "Your normal body temperature?"  
  
"98.6," Kia replied, trying to figure out where this was leading.  
  
"His is 105.7."  
  
Both Kia and Kelsey stared hard at Suzuki. "...That's bad," Kia said finally, tearing her keen gaze from the youkai and resting it on the closed bedroom door.  
  
"REALLY bad," Kelsey agreed. "What's wrong with him, Suzuki?"  
  
"When I questioned him, he mumbled something about some brat throwing baking soda in his face..." He shrugged.  
  
"It must have occurred when he answered the door..." Touya frowned. "That's the only logical explanation."  
  
"But why would a kid throw baking soda at-" Kia broke off abruptly, brown eyes widening in surmise. "Unless it WASN'T baking soda!"  
  
"Whatever this...kid...threw was probably what got Shishi sick!" Kelsey realized.   
  
"NOW we're getting somewhere." Suzuki smiled wearily, turning and opening a door to his left. Kia caught a glimpse of several shelves well-stocked with jars, bottles, vials, and boxes before he walked in, closing the door behind him.  
  
"Is it just me..." Kelsey blinked. "Or was that door not there before?"  
  
"If it's you, it's me too," Kia replied uncertainly.  
  
"It's neither of you." Touya sighed softly, pale blue eyes darkening.  
  
"That's Suzuki's workshop," Jin explained. "It's only there when he WANTS it t'be."  
  
"Now if only certain males were like that." Kelsey rolled her eyes expressively.  
  
"You know she didn't mean that," Kia told both Shinobi, who were staring at the blonde Mirror Holder in shock.  
  
"M'pride's been brutally wounded!" Jin cried in mock affrontation. "I demand an apology!"  
  
"Get it from Kia, then." Kelsey snorted. "She's used to smoothing your ruffled feathers."  
  
"She's sorry," Kia said dutifully.  
  
"No she isn't," her friend muttered rebelliously.  
  
"Hey, people..." Rei leaned over the back of the couch, stroking the brown-furred mouse in her right hand. Somehow, she'd managed to find a little blue collar for it. "You might want to take a look at Mister Mouse Holder."  
  
Kelsey and Kia looked at her, then raced for the door. Kelsey reached it first, grabbing the door and wrenching it open. Kia gasped, and Kelsey's mouth fell open as they stared at the unconscious youkai.  
  
"...What is it?" Jin peeked over Kia's shoulder, and Touya worked his way to the front of the little group.  
  
Kelsey pointed a trembling index finger at Shishiwakamaru. "He...he...he SHRUNK!"  
  
"I THINK he shrunk," Kia added shakily.  
  
"Kia. Get Suzuki," Touya said suddenly.  
  
Too worried to question why, the girl fled, hesitating outside the closed door for a minute or so. "Baka," she told herself. "Why are you so nervous?" She took a deep breath and carefully tested the doorknob. It turned easily in her hand, and the door swung open silently.  
  
"...Suzuki?" the Mirror Holder called out hesitantly, looking at the various potions and boxes. She quickly sidled past something with eyes that followed her every move. "Suzuki!"  
  
"Ouch..."  
  
Kia blinked. At the foot of thirteen stairs, she could see Suzuki heading toward her. But...was it her imagination, or was his stride a bit wobbly?  
  
No, it wasn't her imagination, it was. Suzuki suddenly lurched forward and collapsed, colliding with several shelves on a large open cabinet.  
  
"Suzuki!!" Kia practically flew down the stairs and was by the blonde martial artist's side in an instant. "Daijoubu??"  
  
His only response was a groan.  
  
Biting her lip, she felt his forehead-and cried out, looking at her burnt palm with chagrin.  
  
"Kuso, kuso, shimatta, and all that's good and holy!" Alerted by an ominous creak, she looked up just in time to see the cabinet teeter, then fall forward.  
  
Horrified, the girl tried to drag Suzuki to safety...but she lacked the arm strength, and he was far too heavy for her to do more than haul him three inches. Muttering a curse, Kia knelt so that her back was to the cabinet, leaning slightly over Suzuki. The cabinet hit, the jars and vials sliding off the shelves, some shattering and some just rolling to the ground with tiny clinks.  
  
Kelsey, Jin, Rei, Touya, and Hiei (who had obviously been attracted by the noise) came hurrying in, then stopped and stared. Poor Kia was pinned under the cabinet, covered in glass, blood, and bright pink liquid. Suzuki was unharmed, protected by the girl's body.  
  
"...Kia!" Jin leapt forward to try and free her from her "prison". Kelsey followed, and Rei, Hiei, and Touya still stared.  
  
The Mirror Holder sneezed, grinning up at them sheepishly. "Umm...guys...I think we have a problem."   
  
*OOC*  
  
Whoo! Chapter Two is done, and it was about six pages...I still need to get into the spirit, so I can make my chapters longer. ^^ *does a little dance* Anyway, please review, and NEXT chapter!  
  
* So Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru are sick...who's next on the list of victims?  
  
* The little girl returns! Again! Who IS she??   
  
* Kage proposes a solution, but it might take some work and a bit of traveling to accomplish... 


	3. Youthening

This will probably be a relatively short chapter. *grin* Don't worry...I'm still getting into the spirit of this story. And I PROMISE the sequel of Hiruiseki will be up soon! I just have to finish planning it out.   
  
Shishiwakamaru: You haven't even WRITTEN it yet??  
  
Kia: ...Okay, so sue me! I've been busy!  
  
Shishiwakamaru: You sat and cheered for twelve hours and got paid.  
  
Kia: They needed EXTRAS. I was helping my community-whoa, wait. You're jealous!  
  
Shishiwakamaru: Jealous of you? Hardly.  
  
Kia: Dude. You are SO jealous.  
  
Shishiwakamaru: I hate you.  
  
Kia: The feeling's mutual.  
  
Inuki: Woof!  
  
Kia: Inuki-chan's right. I can't sit here and fight with you. I have a chapter to write! FEAR ME, MORTALS!!! *skips off, laughing hysterically*  
  
Inuki: Woof!  
  
Kia: *stops* Oops. Last chapter, Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru abruptly fell ill! Uh-oh...and that little girl...will be introduced in this chapter! Now, let's continue!!  
  
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Aside from a few scratches and turning into a black cat for the rest of the day, Kia suffered no ill effects from the cabinet incident. But Suzuki had also caught the unknown disease. And that wasn't all, not by a long shot. Kelsey had been helping Kia to doctor her bloody injuries when both heard a thud in the hall. Imagine the girls' chagrin when they discovered both Hiei and Touya lying unconscious on the floor. Then Rei caught it. Within two days, Kelsey, Kia, and Kurama, who had been alerted, were the only ones still healthy.  
  
"I think it's just youkai who are catching it," Kuwabara commented. He and his older sister, Shizuru, had come over to help deal with the invalids and relieve the overworked Mirror Holders.  
  
Kelsey and Kia exchanged guilty looks. They still hadn't told anyone...well, Jin and Yusuke knew about Kia, but neither had said anything about it. Kia was only half-human, and Kelsey was 3/4 human. Ashita, the seemingly immortal creator of the Densetsu no Kagami, had told the girls of their pasts. Kia's mother had been a youkai, and Kelsey's youkai grandfather had married a half demon--a hanyou.   
  
"So...what are the symptoms?" Shizuru, who looked nothing at all like her younger brother, tucked a strand of light brown hair behind her right ear, gazing intently at the two girls.  
  
"Umm..." Kia paused thoughtfully. "High fever, lethargy, and...shrinking."  
  
"Shrinking??" Shizuru looked at her sharply. "In what way? Size? Clothing?"  
  
"Size and years," Kia answered wearily. She looked up from studying her bandaged hands as a high-pitched wail filled the living room, followed by another, then another. "...I think Shishi started that one."  
  
Kelsey sighed. "I'll get him." She went into the bedroom and the crying stopped after a moment.  
  
The older Mirror Holder lifted her eyes heavenward. "Sing praises, I get a respite," she said reverently.  
  
"So how old are they?" Kuwabara asked.  
  
"Jin and Rei haven't changed much," Kia told him. "But Touya and Hiei are shorter and more child-like and Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru are about eleven...in ningen terms, anyway."  
  
"The midget's shorter?!" The boy gasped.  
  
"...Kia?" Kelsey returned, carrying Shishiwakamaru on her back.   
  
"The midget's shorter..." Kuwabara seemed to be having trouble getting past that aspect, until he noticed Kelsey had returned. "Hey...he doesn't LOOK eleven...he looks younger." He stared wide-eyed at the samurai.  
  
"He's ten, going on nine," Kelsey explained.  
  
"He keeps getting younger..." Kia bit her lip worriedly. "Just how young is he going to get??"  
  
"You'd better hope he doesn't get much younger," Shizuru pointed out. "He might get TOO young."  
  
Kelsey shuddered. "A Shishi fetus. Ick."  
  
"Kelsey! Kia?" A little voice called hoarsely from the bedroom.  
  
"We're in here, Suzuki!" The dark-haired girl responded.  
  
"Have to talk...NOW!"  
  
A little taken aback at the Inventor's emphatic tone, Kelsey glanced at Kia, who shrugged. Both girls walked into the room, looking expectantly at the bedridden boy.  
  
"What is it?" Kelsey asked.  
  
"This...disease...I remember...from before..." Suzuki tried to sit up, but Kia carefully pushed him back down. It didn't take that much effort; he had the resistance of a limp noodle.  
  
"You remember...you mean, you've seen this before??"  
  
The child started to cough, which prevented him from answering her query right away. Kage padded quietly into the room and up to the bed, nudging Suzuki's right hand until it rested on his ebon head. -Think about your answer. Formulate it in your mind and I will relay it to the girls.-  
  
Suzuki nodded, squeezing his eyes shut in concentration and effort. After a few minutes, he gave a tired sigh and slumped back into repose.  
  
"Kage?" Kia looked at the dog questioningly.  
  
-This disease HAS been seen before. In Makai. It starts off with a high fever, then progresses to age deterioration. Once you reach the physical age of two, it is highly likely that you will cease living. It only affects youkai, and the few that DO survive are then immune to it. It is extremely contagious.- Kage slowly backed out from under Suzuki's sweaty palm.  
  
"I think-" Kia started to say, but they never heard what she thought, because at that moment, there was a cacophony of crashes and yelps that came from one of the bedrooms.  
  
Casting a nervous look at the drowsing Suzuki, Kia dashed off to find out what was going on. Kelsey remained long enough to settle Shishiwakamaru into his own bed before pursuing her friend.  
  
The racket seemed to be issuing from Hiei's room, and Kia inwardly cringed as she flung open the door, not sure what she would find...and not at all sure if she WANTED to find it!  
  
She didn't. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, the dark-haired girl clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent a startled cry from escaping.  
  
The room was in shambles. Pillows had been torn apart, small fluffy feathers still slowly drifting down. The desk had been overturned, the drawers forcefully emptied of their contents and Hiei's katana was imbedded in the mattress, uncomfortably close to Hiei's head. The Jaganshi himself was cocooned in his sheets, whimpering and flailing at his bindings. He was no longer the fierce, cynical fighter that Kia knew and was so wary of. Instead, he was a frightened little boy, and the Mirror Holder's dormant maternal instincts kicked in.  
  
"Oh, Hiei..." Kia approached him, starting to separate him from the sheets. "What happened here?"  
  
"I don't believe it!!"  
  
Kia blinked, finally succeeding in untangling Hiei, and turned.  
  
There was a little girl seated on the edge of the bed, where it had unoccupied only minutes before. When she removed her large sunglasses, tucking them into a pocket of her pink sundress (which no one in their right mind should have been wearing in the winter), Kia couldn't help noticing her unusual eyes-her left one was brown and her right one was cornflower blue.  
  
The Mirror Holder stared at the stranger, plopping down on the bed herself and settling Hiei on her lap. "I...who ARE you?"  
  
The girl paid her no attention, now prattling on in an incredulous tone. "I did this so YOU would get sick, and you're not even in bed!! I KNEW I should've really checked to see if you were there, but the annoying man with the funny hair had to answer it-"  
  
"Kia!" Kelsey finally showed up, looking at her friend, and then noticing the little girl, and the huge mess.  
  
"And YOU'RE healthy too!!" The small intruder wailed.  
  
"No, I'm Kelsey." (A/N: I hate those...x.x) The blonde girl blinked. "And you would be..."  
  
"Kodoma Binetsu, Mistress of Inventions." She hopped off the bed, pigtails flouncing. "Rival of the Beautiful Martial Artist Suzuki."  
  
"YOU'RE Suzuki's rival?!" Kelsey was a bit dubious.  
  
"I didn't even know he HAD a rival," Kia added.  
  
Binetsu nodded. "He did. Since childhood. Only thing is, he grew up and I didn't!" She giggled. "And now he's gonna shrink!"  
  
"Wait a minute..." Kia stared at her suspiciously. "How did you..."  
  
"I know because I did it!" the child said impatiently. "I created the disease and your friends will all be dead in nine days, starting from when they first started youthening! Wheeee!" She did clumsy pirouettes around the room, and Hiei growled in irritation. It was hard to say what annoyed him more-the klutzy ballerina in his room or the fact that the very same person had fated him to die in nine days...or less.  
  
"I wouldn't recommend staying here," Binetsu advised as she spun. "You Mirror Holders will catch it eventually."  
  
"How do they KNOW?" Kelsey asked Kia.  
  
Her friend shrugged. "Maybe we have blinking neon signs above our heads proclaiming our true identities to the world. Or maybe we're like a dog whistle, and the youkai are-" She looked down at Hiei and decided to shut up.  
  
Binetsu stopped dancing long enough to tweak Hiei's nose. "I'll see you in nine days!" She sang out cheerily. "Or not." She winked her blue eye at the bemused Mirror Holders and stepped out the door.  
  
"Hey, hold it!!" Kelsey raced after her-only to discover that Kodoma Binetsu had disappeared quite effectively.  
  
"Shimatta," the girl complained, as Kia approached, carrying Hiei in her arms.  
  
"She got away?" The brunette asked, still trying to soothe the irate Jaganshi. Judging from the guttural growls Hiei was emitting, she wasn't having much success.  
  
"Is everything okay?" Shizuru called from the living room.  
  
"Fine!" Kia replied, forcing herself to sound cheery.  
  
"Liar. I'm psychic, remember?"  
  
"Damn the Kuwabara family," Kelsey whispered.  
  
Kia groaned, hugging Hiei, who stopped growling. "What do we do now? Is there a cure?"  
  
"There is." Kurama had let himself in when no one had answered the door. Small wonder; the girls had been busy dealing with Kodoma Binetsu. And Shizuru had probably been dealing with her brother. The Youko now looked at the Mirror Holders intensely. "Kage told me, but you may encounter a few problems in getting to it."  
  
"Like...?" Kelsey prompted warily.  
  
-It's in Makai, the one who created it will stop at nothing to prevent you from reaching it, and only six beings know of the cure's exact location.- Like Kurama, Kage's arrival had been silent.  
  
Kia frowned. "So if we go...who'd watch everyone here?"  
  
-Shizuru and her brother, Yusuke, and Keiko have volunteered to help,- The dog explained.  
  
"And the location?" Kelsey asked. "If there's only six-"  
  
-Chuu knows. He and Rinku survived the disease, so if you find them, they can most likely lead you to the cure.-  
  
"Chuu," the blonde mumbled. "Who would've thought?"  
  
-Kurama will accompany you.- Kage sighed. -As long as he remains in this form, he will not risk catching the disease.-  
  
Kia and Kelsey exchanged a puzzled look. Just how many forms did the enigmatic Kurama HAVE?  
  
"...It sounds like everything's been decided already," Kia said at last.  
  
  
  
"It will be dangerous," Kurama reminded her.  
  
"You think I don't know that?" The girl shook her head, freeing a hank of hair from Hiei's grasp. "But I can't just sit back and watch them DIE!"  
  
"Then if you're decided, you'd all better pack." Shizuru walked up, grinning. "Time waits for no one." She took the miniature Jaganshi from Kia and pointed toward the girls' room. Kelsey and Kia obeyed the silent command, not sure if they were ready for yet another zany adventure, but resigned to it nevertheless.  
  
*OOC*  
  
Okay, maybe this wasn't as short as I thought...o.o Ah, well. Please review and give me inspiration so I will stop being a lazy bum and update faster! Damn school...NEXT CHAPTER!  
  
* Witness Kurama's discomfort as Kia and Kelsey tease him about his "girlfriend"!  
  
* Witness Kelsey and Kia's discomfort when they run into a bunch of youkai!  
  
* Witness Yusuke's discomfort when he has to baby-sit! Whoo...that's a whole lot of discomfort...  
  
And because Shishi is mean, HIEI will be commentating on the author's note with me next chapter. I'm not sure if that's wise... 


	4. Back to Makai

^^ I'm in a writing mood, so I figure I might as well start chapter four. Gives me something to do to clear my mind off a horrible Zelda parody...oh, dear God, the insanity...as I promised, here's Hiei!  
  
Hiei: Hn.  
  
Kia: C'mon, Hiei...say SOMETHING else.  
  
Hiei: I can't believe you forced me into doing this. I should kill you.  
  
Kia: But you won't. Because I'm the authoress.  
  
Hiei: *glares*  
  
Kia: Heh...well, in the last chapter, more youkai got sick, Kia and Kelsey learned about this mysterious disease and now they're headed to Makai with Kurama to find a cure for it! Wish them luck...Inari knows they'll need it.  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"See any gerbils?" Kelsey shielded her eyes from the harsh glare of the sun, glancing at her fellow Mirror Holder.  
  
  
  
"No." Kia shifted her backpack, wondering why she hadn't bothered to change out of her school uniform. Well, that's obvious, she chided herself. It was SNOWING in Ningenkai! She'd rolled up her sleeves at least, and she noticed Kelsey had done the same. Kurama didn't seem to be affected at all.  
  
"How about chickens?" Kelsey continued.  
  
The dark-haired girl checked. "...No."  
  
"Naien?"  
  
Kia smiled. She and Kelsey had met the little girl about two months ago. The human-looking Naien was actually a youkai, and Rinku and Chuu had volunteered to take the child back to Makai. They'd heard nothing from their friends since. It would be nice to see Chuu and Rinku again, even at such a bad time.  
  
"...I'll take that as a 'no'," Kelsey decided, when she realized that Kia was probably not going to reply anytime soon.  
  
"Nani?" The brunette blinked, brown eyes losing their dreamy cast.  
  
Kelsey smirked. "Thanks, Kia. I'm so glad you volunteered to fight the naked mole rats on steroids for our sakes."  
  
Kia eyed her friend suspiciously. "Hey, wait..."  
  
The blonde started to laugh. "I never get bored with this..." She dodged Kia's half-hearted kick, still chuckling.  
  
Muttering about mean friends, the older girl turned to Kurama, her gaze questioning. "Kurama? Daijoubu?"  
  
"Hm..." He said absently.  
  
Frowning, Kia tried again. "Kurama?"  
  
"Mmm..."  
  
The girl turned back to Kelsey with a helpless shrug. But she made one final attempt. "Kurama, is it true that you dress up as a hooker from the Sixties and have nightly affairs with Yusuke and Puu?"  
  
"Mm-hmm..." Kurama agreed, not really registering what he had just confirmed. Then, just like Kia had, he blinked. "...What?"  
  
"Welcome back to reality, Kurama!" Kelsey greeted him cheerfully.  
  
"What's with the spacing out?" Kia asked him curiously.  
  
He sighed. "Gomen-I was just thinking of...of someone."  
  
"Chick?" Kelsey guessed. Her friend sweatdropped.  
  
"Chit," she corrected.  
  
Kurama was gradually flushing crimson. "I, er...ah...um..."  
  
Kia grinned. "We're right, aren't we? I can see...it's written all over your face." She poked his forehead. "Are we ever going to MEET your girlfriend?"  
  
"You sly fox, you," Kelsey couldn't resist adding.  
  
Poor Kurama was beet-red by now, his flaming face matching his hair perfectly-not an easy feat. "Do either of you know how we're going to find Chuu and Rinku?" He said quickly...a little TOO quickly, both girls noted with interest.  
  
Kelsey snorted. "Sure. Change the subject."  
  
"Kage said they were staying with a friend in a village about seven or eight miles from here," Kia answered. "If we keep up this pace, we should reach it in about..." She glanced up at the sky, mentally judging something. "Two to three hours."  
  
Kurama nodded, smiling slightly.  
  
"We'll be back and have everyone cured in no time!" Kelsey seized Kia's hands, swinging her friend around in a sloppy circle. When she let go, Kia stumbled, head spinning somewhat, and almost fell. Kurama slid his hands under her arms and hauled her up before she hit the ground.  
  
"Arigato..." Kia said dizzily, blinking to clear her doubled vision.  
  
"You're welcome." The Youko chuckled, releasing her once he'd made sure she could stand properly again.  
  
"Hurry up!" Kelsey called impatiently, running up ahead. Kia smiled, running after her friend. "I wonder how the others are doing," she remarked thoughtfully.  
  
***At Suzuki's House***  
  
"Kuso! Get BACK here, you stubborn little shi-" Yusuke Urameshi lunged for Hiei-and missed, as the little youkai used his uncanny speed to dart out of reach.  
  
"Yusuke!" Keiko Yukimura, his girlfriend, scolded. "Language!!" She adjusted her arms to fit around a squirming Shishiwakamaru, who had regressed even further in years.  
  
"He deserves it!" The Tantei retorted, pursuing the Jaganshi as he scampered around the living room. "How can they be so sick and have so much damn energy?!"  
  
"LANGUAGE," Keiko said warningly, brown eyes peeved. "And they're KIDS, Yusuke. They ALWAYS have energy."  
  
"I'm still gonna kill those three for leaving us with these-" He saw his female companion's glare and hastily changed whatever he'd been about to say. "Children."  
  
"They'll be back soon!" Keiko replied positively, although she was starting to feel a little unsure herself.  
  
"They'd better be." Yusuke winced as the youkai children set up a chorus of wails and screams. "Damn them all...stupid little pieces of-"  
  
"YUSUKE!!"  
  
***Back to Makai***  
  
"They're probably having a great time," Kelsey said, grinning. "Especially Yusuke."  
  
"Is this Opposites' Day?" Kia inquired sweetly.  
  
"No." The blonde's reply was incredibly innocent, but Kia knew her friend. She also knew better.  
  
"Hey..." Kelsey poked the other Mirror Holder, sobering slightly. "Are you worried?"  
  
"...Worried?" Kia blinked. It was probably best for both of them if she kept up an optimistic outlook. "I-"  
  
"And don't lie," Kelsey interrupted.  
  
The brunette sweatdropped. "All I said was-"  
  
"Your 'I' was forced," the girl explained. "Knowing you, that means you're going to answer with what you think I want to hear."  
  
  
  
"I wish you didn't know me so well," Kia complained.  
  
"Ah, well." Kelsey shrugged. "So, are you?"  
  
"Am I what?"  
  
Kelsey tugged on Kia's ponytail. "Worried!!"  
  
The older girl winced, then relaxed when her hair was released. "A little...I just...I guess I'm afraid that we won't make it in time. Or find Chuu and Rinku. Or that Yusuke won't survive a bunch of little kids."  
  
"Yeah, that worries me too," Kelsey admitted. "But never fear, stout comrade! We shall overcome!"  
  
"Who are you calling 'stout'?" Kia demanded archly.  
  
"Heh..." Kelsey picked up speed.  
  
"Oh, no you don't!" Kia ran after her, but unfortunately, her eyes were on her friend's retreating back and not on the ground. Her shoe caught on a protruding tree root and she toppled over, eyes wide with surprise. For the second time that day, someone caught her.  
  
"...Whew." The brunette sighed in relief, glad that she and the ground hadn't gotten any closer to each other. "Thanks, Kura-" She looked at the one who had "saved" her--and gaped.  
  
It hadn't been Kurama who had caught her. It was a bird. No...a man. Kia blinked. Just what WAS he?? He had the approximate build of a man, but his bare arms and legs were feathered, and he had the head of a blue/black eagle, sickly yellow eyes pulsing faintly. The girl also became uncomfortably aware of just where those eyes were resting, and his hands (talons?) gripped her arms tightly, cruelly digging through the thin fabric and into her skin.  
  
"What have we here?" His voice was high and scratchy. "A ningen girl?"  
  
"Let me go," Kia said evenly.  
  
The youkai laughed, the harsh sound grating on the girl's ears. "Let you go? Why? I could sell you or me and my boys could have some fun with you and your friend."  
  
Kia, about to reply very nastily, focused on the last word he'd used. "...Friend?"  
  
"Put me DOWN!" Kelsey yelled furiously, struggling against another youkai. This one reminded Kia of King Kong, only shorter and wearing a black shirt that proclaimed "Sexy" in bold red lettering.  
  
Sexy is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose, thought Kia.  
  
The eagle youkai cackled, releasing Kia's left arm to reach for her chest. That was a major mistake on his part.  
  
Kelsey and King Kong looked up as the eagle hit the ground, his feathered cheek reddening from the force of Kia's slap.  
  
"Don't even GO there!" The girl yelled, shaking with righteous anger.  
  
Kelsey grinned, planting her feet on her captor's chest and flipping over his arms. Surprised, he let go, and the blonde backed up to join her friend. "Where's Kurama?" She gasped.  
  
Kia shook her head. "I don't know, he just disappeared..." She tensed as she suddenly realized that they were completely surrounded. "...Oh, shoot. This is bad."  
  
***  
  
Kurama grimly cut down another youkai with his Rose Whip and turned. The five creatures that had attacked him were dead, but not only had they managed to separate him from the girls, but also had left a long, bloody gash on his right arm, and he was having trouble focusing his eyes and mind. But...Kia and Kelsey were back there, and he had a feeling that they were in trouble. Sure enough, he heard a startled yelp and a cry of pain in the distance.  
  
The Youko reached into his pocket, pulling out a small bottle of reddish liquid. He'd acquired it from Suzuki's workshop, and, quickly downing its contents in one swallow, he could only hope it took effect soon.  
  
***  
  
Kia took a step back as one of the youkai reached into a battered pouch at his side, withdrawing a small blue globe and hurling it at her. It hit the ground near her feet and burst, forming a small puddle.  
  
"..." The Mirror Holder blinked. "Water?"  
  
"Kia, get back!" Kelsey yelled in alarm, starting towards her friend. With a leer, the same youkai pulled out a piece of string from the pouch, flinging it out. It lengthened as it flew, until it had wrapped itself around Kelsey, tightening around her arms and legs. With a strangled cry, she fell, struggling against her bonds until they glowed bright green and she suddenly stopped. Tears of pain sprang to her eyes.  
  
Kia ran forward, then stumbled. Looking down, she discovered that the puddle was extending liquid tentacles, rising up to cover her legs and wrap around her wrists. Alarmed, she tried to leap away, but it was too late. Once it had reached her waist, it congealed, solidifying into a mass of crystalline rock. One strand extended from the girl's wrists to the ground and stuck there. She was trapped.  
  
The youkai, this one resembling a fish, grabbed her chin in a cold webbed hand. "Afraid yet?" He said softly.  
  
"Hardly." Kia glared at him defiantly. "Where I come from, we eat things like you for dinner!" She jerked her head back to escape his clammy grip.  
  
His eyes flashed. "I'd watch your mouth if I were you, girl. You're in Makai now." He laughed. "And you're helpless." As if to prove his point, he gestured at the crystal "prison". Kia winced as cold needles of pain ran up through her legs and arms and filled her body, biting her lip to keep from screaming. Soon, she had a bleeding lip and the pain wasn't letting up.   
  
The fish youkai stood back slightly to view her silent struggle. "My, my...two little ningen girls have been disabled...I could kill you right now and you wouldn't be able to stop me."  
  
The dark-haired girl closed her eyes, determined not to rise to the bait.  
  
"Perhaps not. But you didn't account for me, did you?"  
  
Kia heard that cold, silky voice and wondered who THIS one was-friend or foe. Honestly, she didn't care anymore; she was too busy trying to rid herself of this agonizing pain.  
  
"And who the hell would you-AAAAAAAAAAAARRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!" An almost-silent swish, a scream, a cry of surprise from Kelsey, and that voice again.  
  
"Release her."  
  
"You've gotta be kidding!" That was the fish guy, sounding both scared and indignant. An odd combo. "I don't know who you think you are, but-"  
  
The other chuckled. "Spare me. Kia, hold still." Frowning, the girl obeyed. She felt a small rush of air as something shot by her, and then the crystal shattered and the pain departed abruptly. She didn't even have TIME to fall before someone lifted her up.  
  
Kia opened her eyes, and found herself staring into a pair of cool and calculating golden eyes. Silvery-white hair flowed to the stranger's back, and Kia couldn't hold in a gasp when she saw his flowing white tail and pale fox ears. He was dressed in a simple white sleeveless outfit.  
  
  
  
"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" He gently wiped blood off her lower lip, then casually licked it off his finger.  
  
"I...what?" Kia was incredibly flustered.  
  
"Oh, now you've done it." Fish Man scowled, digging in that damned pouch for something.  
  
The fox-eared man set the Mirror Holder down carefully. "See to your friend. This won't take long."  
  
All Kia could think of to say was "You're really tall." She blinked, giving her head a shake, and ran over to Kelsey, who was on her hands and knees, panting.  
  
"Who's Fox boy?" The blonde girl asked, giving her friend a shaky smile.  
  
"No clue," the brunette replied. "Are you okay?"  
  
Kelsey nodded. "I wonder who he is..."  
  
"Hopefully, a friend." Then Kia frowned. "Wait..." Something about him seemed eerily familiar. An image flashed in her mind-a huge fox carrying a child in its mouth. The girl was herself. The fox was...  
  
"Kelsey," Kia whispered hoarsely. "I think..."  
  
"Huh?" Kelsey turned to her friend quizzically. Kia had a funny look on her face.  
  
"...I think he's KURAMA!"  
  
*OOC*  
  
Brilliant deduction, Sherlock! But if that really IS Kurama...what the hell HAPPENED to him?? Please review, and NEXT CHAPTER!  
  
* Meet Youko Kurama! Why is he acting so strangely towards Kia?  
  
* Kodoma Binetsu reflects on a photograph...  
  
* Hey...Kurama's in his demon form! Who wants to guess what THAT means?   
  
I'd like to thank Lexi-chan for being my muse, Kelsey for...being my OTHER muse, my reviewers for musing, and Inuki for biting my ankles. ...Stupid spirit dog.  
  
Hiei: Smart, actually.  
  
Kia: -.- Oh, who asked you anyway.  
  
Hiei: You forced me to do this. I enjoy witnessing your discomfort.  
  
Kia: You're the one currently in diapers, Midget. I wouldn't talk.  
  
Hiei: ...Hn. 


	5. Youko Kurama

Happy December! *dances* This Author's Note will be relatively short. I'd just like to thank Lexi-chan for updating Liability so soon (if you haven't read her Kokitsune series yet, GO READ IT!) It really motivates me to write more. Of course, school will hinder my time on the computer, but I'll try...x.x Really. Okaaaaay...you can stop staring at me now...  
  
*oddly enough, has theme song from "Gulla Gulla Island" stuck in her head* Don't tell me you never watched that when you were a kid...*dances some more* Come and let's play together, in the bright sunny weather, let's all go to Gulla Gulla Island! Lots to see and to do there, all we need now is you there...*cough* Okay, I'll stop.  
  
Last chapter, Kia, Kelsey, and Kurama went to Makai...they teased him about his "girlfriend", Yusuke wasn't too happy with baby-sitting duties, and now the Mirror Holders have been saved by a mysterious fox-eared man...Kia thinks she knows who he is, though.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
  
"Kurama?!" Kelsey yelped. "You're KIDDING!"  
  
Kia shook her head. "Remember that fox I told you about?" When her friend nodded, she sighed. "I think that guy's Kurama...he reminds me of him, anyway. And those ears..."  
  
They both flinched when a drawn-out scream filled the air, hanging heavily in the sudden silence that followed. The fox man stepped away from his latest victim and turned to the girls, walking over silently. Blood trickled from a small cut on his forehead...and also from a nasty gash on his arm.  
  
"Kurama...?" Kia said hesitantly.  
  
He smiled, helping Kelsey to her feet. "Youko Kurama. You look exactly the same, Kia."  
  
"I've never seen you before in my life!" the Mirror Holder protested nervously. Then she paused. "...Have I?" She'd seen Kurama of course, but this stranger...this form...she was pretty sure she'd never seen it before.  
  
Youko Kurama reached out, touching her cheek softly. "No," he said with a sad smile. "You haven't. Not yet."  
  
Kia looked at him, startled. "Umm..."  
  
Kelsey gasped suddenly. "Kurama-you're a youkai now!"  
  
"I am," he agreed amusedly.  
  
"But...but that means you're at risk! You could catch the disease!"  
  
"Ohh..." Kia looked at the younger girl in dismay.  
  
Kurama smirked slightly. "Don't worry about it. I should change back soon into my lesser form, and I can stand against the disease anyway. After all, I AM the greatest thief in Makai."  
  
"Aren't we confident," Kelsey murmured, not exactly seeing how being a great thief could help.  
  
"Only because I know." The golden-eyed Youko turned, sauntering past the two Mirror Holders, who had been momentarily rendered speechless.  
  
"...I think I like the tail-less Kurama better," Kia decided, once Kurama was out of earshot.  
  
Kelsey agreed. "But hopefully he'll turn back soon."  
  
***  
  
Four hours passed, and, to the concern of the Mirror Holders, Kurama still bore fox ears and a tail.  
  
"'He'll turn back soon', eh?" Kia said wearily to Kelsey as they trudged along in the darkness, practically drooping with fatigue. They could barely catch glimpses of silvery hair as Kurama strolled smoothly a few feet in front of them.  
  
Kelsey raised her shoulders, then dropped them with a sigh. "You never know..." She suddenly let out a groan. "My feet are blistering."  
  
"I can't even FEEL mine!" The brunette blinked. "Wait...it's been four hours...we should've reached the village an hour ago!!"  
  
Kelsey, upon hearing this piece of startling news, stumbled and fell against Kia. The two went down in a tangled heap. "We didn't PASS it, did we?!"  
  
Kia grimaced, trying to free herself, to no avail. "We didn't pass ANY villages!"  
  
"That can't be good." The younger girl, having freed herself after a few moments of struggling, was now too tired to move. "That Binetsu brat! I bet SHE did something!"  
  
"Illusion," Kia mused. "Or moving its location..."  
  
"So we turn around?" Kelsey suggested.  
  
The Mirror Holder looked up at the dark, velvety sky. "I guess we have to." In spite of herself, she couldn't hold back a yawn. It was seconded by Kelsey and, within minutes, both girls were fast asleep on the cold ground.  
  
Kurama's ears twitched and he turned, inhaling the girls' scent. His golden eyes widened, then softened after a moment.  
  
Kelsey and Kia were curled up beside each other, breathing deeply and quietly. Judging from their limp positions, it looked as if they had just dropped off right there, too weary and fatigued to go on any further.  
  
The Youko was perplexed. Why hadn't they said anything? He would have stopped. Then, a split second later, he answered his own question. The Mirror Holders possessed a legendary stubbornness, and were also worried for their friends. They would keep going until exhaustion wore them out long enough for sleep to claim them.  
  
"Get your rest," Kurama advised quietly, approaching the slumbering duo. He settled down between them on his back, wrapping an arm around each girl and pillowing their heads on his chest. "You'll need it." And with that final remark, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.  
  
***Suzuki's House***  
  
  
  
"You think they made it yet, 'Neesan?" Kuwabara asked his older sister as she emerged from Jin and Touya's room, carrying a bowl of water, two damp rags draped over the side.  
  
Shizuru looked at him solemnly. "I don't know. They'll do their best to find Chuu and Rinku in time, and that's all we can hope for."  
  
"But...but..." Kuwabara seemed to be having trouble, struggling to find the right words. "They're girls! They're not cut out for Makai-"  
  
"Kazuma." Shizuru's firm tone stopped him before he could finish his sentence. "Did they not destroy Netami?" She'd been well aware of the Mirror Holders' activities for quite some time now.  
  
"Well, yeah, but-"  
  
"And did they or didn't they defeat seven monsters?"  
  
Kuwabara twiddled his thumbs nervously. "They did, but-"  
  
"No buts. They'll be fine." The elder sibling sighed. "Plus, they have Kurama with them."  
  
"True," Kuwabara agreed, feeling slightly better. "Kurama'll protect them."  
  
***Back to Makai***  
  
Kia opened her eyes slowly, blinking as the glaring sun assaulted her vision. She tried to sit up, but failed when a long arm kept her firmly trapped, head resting on something that rose and fell in a slow and steady rhythm.   
  
"What the..." Kelsey's bewildered voice informed her friend that she wasn't the only one awake. "Oi, Kurama, let go!"  
  
The Youko muttered crossly, but didn't wake up.  
  
Kia carefully freed herself from Kurama's one-armed embrace, looking over at the younger girl, who was still working herself free carefully.  
  
"Good morning, Sunshine!" The brunette greeted her cheerfully.  
  
Kelsey yawned. "Morning. Would you like fries with that?"  
  
The girl grinned, before sitting cross-legged on the ground, a pensive look replacing the former expression on her face. "I'm pretty sure we didn't pass the village..."  
  
"Then..." Kelsey frowned. "How are we going to reach it? Kuso! That little-"  
  
"Kage DID say she wouldn't make this easy," she was reminded. "I guess the only thing we can do is retrace our steps. Hopefully, we can get there today."  
  
The blonde Mirror Holder nodded. "Just as long as we get breakfast first."  
  
Kia looked around the barren landscape. "I dread to learn what 'breakfast' is here."  
  
"Not to worry, most of it is edible." Youko Kurama was finally up. He rose and stretched. "You two stay here. I'll go get some food."  
  
"We'll go-" Kelsey started to say, but the kitsune shook his head.  
  
"In this part of Makai, it is best if you two remain together...here. I can handle it. After all, I AM-"  
  
"The best thief in Makai," Kia and Kelsey said in dutiful unison.  
  
"Exactly." He turned and sped off.  
  
"...He's faster than he looks," Kia remarked, watching him go.   
  
"He's still an arrogant canine." Kelsey shrugged, then held out her hands. Kia immediately understood the silent invitation, and the game of Slide was underway.   
  
***Somewhere...else.***  
  
  
  
"Kodoma-sama, they've caught on..." The mousy-haired man paced back and forth, wringing his hands nervously. "What'll we do?!"  
  
"Oh, calm down." Binetsu stared at him boredly. "So what if they have? It'll take some time to retrace their steps." She grinned broadly. "And I'm not gonna make it easy for them, either."  
  
"How so?" The man eagerly inquired.  
  
"Let's just say..." The child giggled. "Kurama can't change back, he's at risk, and THAT will leave two youkai girls stranded in Makai."  
  
He looked blank. "But...what did...why do you want to kill them so badly?"  
  
Binetsu looked at him as if she regarded him as an idiot...probably true. "Two reasons, mostly. One, think of the fame...the glory...rumor has it those Mirror Holders are practically impossible to kill. Think about it! I'll be valued amongst all other youkai! I succeeded where Netami herself failed! The Densetsu no Kagami will be mine! The power..." She rolled her eyes. "I don't want their deaths to be bloody...the disease is so EFFICIENT that way. I won't even have to lift a finger."  
  
"And the other reason?" The man prompted delicately. This earned a scowl from his mistress.  
  
"They know SUZUKI. That's a fatal mistake. Any friend of Suzuki's must die." She picked up a face-down picture frame and studied it through lowered lids. Two children stood side by side in front of a forest background. The male had blonde spiky hair and an infectious grin. The little pig-tailed girl beside him was discreetly sticking two fingers behind his head in the universal "bunny ears" gesture. They were young then, innocent; they were happy. They had no idea that, while both were destined to become great Inventors, bitterness and jealousy would draw one into darkness until it consumed her very soul.  
  
"Damn you, Suzuki," Binetsu whispered, hurling the picture to the floor. The glass frame struck, and shattered. She paid it no mind. "You'll pay...you'll ALL pay." (A/N: I'll get you, my pretty...and your little clown nose too!)  
  
***Back to Makai...again***  
  
"...Okay, this is getting ridiculous." Kia rubbed her hands together briskly. "We got to thirty-nine, I can't feel my palms, and Kurama STILL isn't back!"  
  
"You actually kept count?" Kelsey eyed her. "I gave up when we reached eleven!"  
  
Kia said nothing, merely looked steadily at her friend. Kelsey sighed. "Okay, I get it. Let's go look for Foxy Boy." Unfortunately, that triggered a song and soon Kia was being serenaded with "Foxy Boy, the cows, the cows, are calling..."  
  
"Can't you sing something else?" The brunette asked finally, exasperated. Three seconds later, she wished she had kept her mouth shut."  
  
"And there's life in it yet  
  
We may live to regret  
  
When the ones that we've poisoned stop twitchin'..."  
  
"Oh, THAT'S cheerful." Kia grimaced, looking pained.  
  
"I try." Kelsey smiled evilly. "So, where the heck IS Youko Kurama, anyway?"  
  
"I don't know!" Kia sweatdropped. "It's not like we're going to TRIP over him or anyth-"  
  
She seemed to be notorious for famous last words. The next minute, she had tripped over something and fallen headlong into a clump of bushes.  
  
"...Kia!" Kelsey leapt forward to pull her friend out of the clumps of greenery...the bush seemed reluctant, but eventually yielded and gave up the Mirror Holder.  
  
Kia pulled a twig from her ponytail. "Great. First a rock, then Kurama, what the HELL did I just say?!" She turned and looked down. Youko Kurama was lying on the ground, eyes tightly closed, a feverish cast to his pale features.  
  
"Inari, no..." The girl slowly sank to the ground. "This can't be happening!"  
  
"Check to see if he has a fever," Kelsey advised.  
  
"YOU do it. My hands still haven't recovered."  
  
Kelsey gingerly touched Kurama's forehead. She winced. "Well, it's official. Youko Kurama is sick and we're royally screwed."  
  
*OOC*  
  
Poor Mirror Holders! They're having a bad day...no worries, it'll get worse before it gets better. ^.~ SolaLupusKouken...or whatever your name is...you guessed right! ^^ Congrats. And someone else suggested a love triangle between Kia, Jin, and Youko. Scary thought...but...wait til Kikyoku comes out. Poor Kia...no worries, it works out in the end. Please review! Next chapter!  
  
* Kia and Kelsey come up with a plan...  
  
* God, Binetsu is truly EVIL...  
  
* More trouble...and...what's up with hamsters? Talk about bad luck!  
  
I can't believe I'm writing this so fast...@.@ Much thanks to Celebrindae! Her e-mail motivated me...o.o 


	6. Bad Luck

...I wonder why most of you are so into the concept of having a love triangle between Kia, Jin, and Youko Kurama. It comes close in Kikyoku, but trust me, Kia's going to teach that Youko that some people are not susceptible to his "charms". And besides, how can one think about love, when one is trying to find a-okay, I've said too much. Let me get done with Densebyou FIRST. *grin* Let's see, what else...I think I have become fond of the line "Stupid Orcs". Not sure why. O.o;; Ah, well. Lexi-chan updated, and I need to get this up, so...  
  
Last chapter, Youko Kurama got sick! Shoot. Now Kia and Kelsey are stranded in the Makai and they're having a bad day...and it's about to get worse. Much worse. Poor Mirror Holders.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The two girls sat despondently by their fallen friend. Kia looked as if she was going to cry, and Kelsey had fallen into a dark, brooding silence.  
  
"What do we do now?" Kia said at last, her voice trembling slightly. She'd pulled a canteen from her backpack, and now she had Kurama's head cradled on her lap, busy patting his face with a damp piece of cloth she'd torn from her skirt and soaked in water. "I mean," she went on, when Kelsey didn't respond, "we have to find Chuu and Rinku, but...we can't just LEAVE him here!"  
  
"True." Kelsey finally spoke. "His girlfriend would kill us if he did."  
  
"KELSEY."  
  
"All right, all right..." The girl sighed. "AND he's our friend, even if he IS a cocky little-"  
  
"KELSEY!"  
  
"Kidding, KIDDING!" Kelsey looked down at Kurama. "Well, we have three options. We could leave him here, and-"  
  
"No."  
  
Kelsey hadn't expected an agreement on that one anyway. "Well, then...we can take him with us or stay here. But if we stay, we're an easy target. We need to keep moving."  
  
Kia considered this, then nodded slowly. "I see your point. I guess we'll just CARRY Kurama to that village."  
  
"Arms or legs?" Kelsey asked helpfully.  
  
"I'll get the arms..." The older girl sighed, slipping her arms under Kurama's. Kelsey grabbed his legs, and, between the two of them, they managed to lift him up.  
  
"Y'know, for such a skinny guy, he weighs a TON!" Kelsey gasped, staggering slightly.  
  
"I just hope we can get him to the village...it might slow us down, but..." Kia trailed off.  
  
"Well..." Her friend smiled down at the unconscious Youko as they started walking. "Look at it this way-if he really DOES have the disease, he'll gradually become small enough for us to hold in our arms."  
  
Kia almost choked on her reply. "By the time THAT happens, Shishiwakamaru and Suzuki will be DEAD!"  
  
"...Oh, yeah." Kelsey sweatdropped. "Okay, so let's get going."  
  
The girls started to walk, carrying Kurama between them. Kelsey kept glancing Kia's way. The shorter girl was staring at the ground, biting her lip occasionally. Kelsey couldn't handle the dead silence.  
  
"Hey, Kia..." The brunette glanced over at her questioningly. "Remember that time when we discovered that evil people DO have sea monkeys?"  
  
Kia nodded, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards slightly.  
  
"And remember when Yusuke tricked Jin into walking into the wrong bathroom?"  
  
The girl winced. "How could I forget? He locked Shishiwakamaru in the towel cabinet, too."  
  
"And the time that Rinku got locked in the refrigerator?"  
  
"And when Rei tried to convince Yusuke to marry Axe?"  
  
Kelsey laughed. "She wanted us to be bridesmaids."  
  
"And she wanted Hiei to be the flower girl," Kia added, smiling reminiscently.   
  
"I remember. Hiei set the flowers on fire, and Suzuki freaked out..."  
  
Kurama stirred. "Chit...ko..."  
  
The Mirror Holders looked down in surprise, but the Youko didn't speak again.  
  
"...So now her name is Chitko?" Kia blinked, brown eyes conveying her obvious bewilderment.  
  
"Let's see if he'll tell us more." Kelsey made her voice whispery and mysterious. "Kuraaaamaaa...It is I, your conscieeence...whoooo is your girlfrieeeend?"  
  
Her friend sweatdropped. "Uh, Kelsey...?"  
  
"Teeeeeell meeee," Kelsey continued, ignoring her.  
  
Kurama didn't reply.  
  
The blonde stuck out her tongue. "Okay, fine." She returned to speaking in that freaky voice again. "Wheeeen youuuuuu waaaake up, youuuuuu wiiiiiill haaaaave the urrrrrge tooooooo eat caaaaaandy cooooorn."  
  
"What does candy corn have to do with anything??"  
  
Kelsey shrugged. "Dunno. Be cool if it works, though, wouldn't it? If he won't tell us who his girlfriend is, he must suffer candy corn cravings."  
  
"We'll find out sooner or later," Kia pointed out logically. "We'll just have to wait until Kurama decides to tell us."  
  
"That'll be the day," Kelsey retorted, with an indignant sniff. The girls exchanged amused looks, then sighed in unison and kept walking.  
  
***At Suzuki's House***  
  
"Kuso!" Kuwabara hammered at the closed bedroom door with his fists, frustration lending a piercing quality to his shrieks. (A/N: I'm suddenly reminded of Fred Flintstone. "Willlllllllmaaaaaa!" o.o) "Open the goddamn door, you little bastard!"  
  
"Locked you out again, didn't he?" Yusuke remarked, watching his friend as he sat on the couch, absently rubbing Kage's ears with his bare left foot.  
  
"I'm gonna MURDER Hiei!" Kuwabara growled. "How he managed to lock the door-"  
  
"Well, it IS Hiei." The other smirked. "I told you this wouldn't be easy."  
  
Suddenly, Jin and Touya's door blew open and a small tornado leapt out, advancing steadily on the two Tantei. Obviously the miniature Wind Master still had control of the breezes.  
  
"Shimatta!" Yusuke yelled, leaping off the couch and running for his life.  
  
Kage squeezed under a chair, eyeing the vortex warily. -It never gets dull around here, does it?-  
  
"No, dog..." Kuwabara glared at the door. "It doesn't."  
  
***Back to Makai***  
  
Kelsey spotted it first...the plume of smoke rising up in the distance. "Look...that must be the village!"  
  
"I hope so..." Kia sighed. "That took awhile."  
  
The blonde girl grinned. "Is that the best Kodoma Binetsu can do? HA! I laugh at her pitiful attempts!"  
  
There was a crack from above, the sky turned pitch-black, and hard rain poured down in torrents. The Mirror Holders and Kurama were thoroughly soaked within seconds.  
  
"Ha. Ha. Fricking ha," Kia said dully, her voice and face both expressionless.  
  
"Heh...sorry," Kelsey said sheepishly. "So, ole buddy of mine, what now?"  
  
"It's dangerous to stay out here," the Healer replied. Sure enough, lightning lit up the sky, turning it an ominous greenish color. "Maybe we should find shelter somewhere. I don't think that we can reach the village now."  
  
Kelsey nodded, then pointed to her left. "How convenient is that?" A small cave stood there, looking extremely safe and innocent.  
  
"...Okay, that's TOO weird," Kia commented.   
  
"Yeah." Her friend shuddered. "What say you, Cookie Sheet?"  
  
"Okay, LOOK, Shishi lover-" Both girls flinched when a bolt of lightning struck the ground by their feet, perilously close. Without speaking, they readjusted their grip on Kurama and rushed inside the cave.  
  
***Twenty Minutes Later...***  
  
"The sticks are wet," Kelsey reported, dumping an armful of wood on the cold cave floor.  
  
"So are we." Kia gave a disgusted sigh, wringing out her sopping skirt, before doing the same to her dark hair. "We'll dry off eventually, but we need to keep Kurama warm."  
  
Kelsey piled the sticks together and flicked her fingers. Emerald flames raced from her fingertips and set the wood alight. Soon, she had a decent-sized fire going. "Okay...take off Kurama's clothes."  
  
"Whaaaaaaat?!" Kia stared at her in absolute horror. "No way!!"  
  
"Why not?" Kelsey asked impatiently. "He'll just get sicker if he keeps those wet clothes on!"  
  
"Then YOU do it!"  
  
"Hell no!"  
  
"Well, I'M not doing it!"  
  
"I'M not!"  
  
They settled for taking his shirt off and leaving his pants on, which greatly relieved them both. They placed the article of clothing near the fire to dry, and settled down to wait out the storm.  
  
"...How big do you think this cave is?" Kelsey spoke up presently.  
  
Kia blinked. "Not sure. But there's no wall back there...at least, not one that I could see, so who knows?"  
  
A pause. "Kia?"  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"Does it feel like we're being watched?"  
  
Kia looked at her friend. "...Watched?"   
  
Kelsey pointed. Kia looked. She met the stares of lots of little beady red eyes. And then she heard the squeaks and angry chitters...  
  
"Kelsey?"  
  
"Hai?"  
  
"Are those what I think they are?"  
  
"Hungry hamsters?"  
  
"Uh-huh..."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Okay, then. Makai hamsters." Kia casually lifted her left hand. A vertical shaft of pale blue light appeared, which she grasped, before it curved to form a semblance of a bow. The girl eyed the snarling creatures, her right hand starting to glow with that same azure light.  
  
With a roar, the hamsters surged forward-just as the light formed an arrow.  
  
Kia smiled, eyes narrowed. "Go to hell, you irritating little ratty bloodsuckers-REIYA!" (A/N: Translation: Spirit Arrow) The arrow flew at the advancing hamsters and exploded in a beautiful (and deadly) fireworks display. Squeaks and actual screams could be heard, and Kia grabbed Kurama's arms, tucking the shirt under one arm. Kelsey got the legs, and they ran. Most of the furry army pursued.  
  
"I hate you, Binetsu!!" Kelsey wailed. "I HOPE YOU DIE!"  
  
"Save your breath and-OW!" Kia kicked out violently, and the unfortunate hamster trying to devour her ankle fell off. "Kelsey, can you-"  
  
"Out of the cave," the blonde girl ordered grimly, immediately understanding.  
  
Once they were outside, Kelsey gestured. The ground in front of the cave groaned and rose up, covering the entrance, and sealing the little beasts inside.  
  
"¡No lo aguanto más!" (I can't take it anymore!) Kia was so upset that she had reverted to Spanish without even realizing it. "Evil youkai, Kurama getting sick, the storm, the village, the hamsters-"  
  
"The storm stopped," Kelsey said reassuringly. "We're almost there."  
  
The dark-haired Mirror Holder nodded, trying to smile.  
  
In fifteen minutes, they had reached the village--a small settlement consisting of eighteen assorted huts and houses, completely surrounded by a tall wooden fence. Kia could tell what was inside by peering through one of the thin gaps.  
  
"...This is it," the girl said, knocking on the fence. It didn't make much of a sound, but it worked anyway.   
  
A tan man with a scruffy purple beard looked over the top. He was either very tall, or he was standing on a ladder. "An' what would ye be wantin' with us, then?" He asked gruffly.  
  
"We...we're looking for two friends of ours," Kia called up hesitantly. "A tall drunkard and a little boy. They go by the names Chuu and Rinku."  
  
"Ah..." The man studied them carefully. "This Rinku fellow...three stars under 'is eye? Funny little cap?"  
  
"That's him!" Kelsey said excitedly. "Can we see them?"  
  
He sighed. "Ye came too late, m'dears; just missed 'em. They jus' left 'bout two or three hours ago. Might've just caught 'em, iffen that storm hadn't blown up."  
  
*OOC*  
  
My God, it just keeps getting worse! Now what? Will Kia and Kelsey break this bad luck streak? Will Yusuke survive chibi youkai? Will I stop saying "Stupid Orcs"? Who knows. ^^ Please review! NEXT Chapter!  
  
* Kurama starts getting younger...uh-oh!  
  
* When Kelsey loses it, her yelling attracts the wrong people...  
  
* Well, guess who's captured? Watch the Mirror Holders try to avoid getting dunked in de pot. Ooh...bad luck, indeed. But maybe all is not lost.  
  
Stupid Orcs. ^^;; Thanks to all who reviewed, you make my day! *huggles everyone* 


	7. Taken Captive

^^ Whoo! Kia is...umm...on chapter 7! I think. Yes. Chapter 7! *huggles fic* And Lexi-chan just sent the survey that I sent to her that Celebrindae sent to me...and I want to meet you too, Lexi-chan! Stupid spastic internet-hating parents...x.x Stupid Orcs.   
  
...Sorry, couldn't resist. ^^;; But, let's see...last chapter, after waiting out a storm and fighting off a horde of evil little hamsters, Kia and Kelsey reached the village! But, guess what? Chuu and Rinku aren't there! NOW what??  
  
Waiiiii! It's snowing!!  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The Mirror Holders stared at the man for a full three minutes, mouths slightly open. This couldn't be happening!  
  
"They...left...?" Kia asked finally, struggling to regain her composure. She was badly shaken. And she'd noticed that Kurama was starting to look younger and weigh less, which definitely wasn't good...except maybe for her screaming arm muscles.  
  
"Aye." The bearded man nodded, studying their pale faces. Concern was evident in his tone when he spoke again. "Uh...beg pardon, but ye two don' look so good...peaky like, actually. Ye're welcome to stay the night here...some rest will do ye good."  
  
Kelsey looked at Kia. Kia looked at Kelsey. A silent agreement was made.  
  
"No, thank you," Kia said politely. "We'll be fine. Thank you for your information." She turned to Kelsey. "Let's go." Before I completely lose what little shreds of sanity I still have...  
  
The girls bid farewell to the man and trudged aimlessly onward. They'd only been walking for an hour, when Kelsey snapped. Dropping Youko Kurama's legs unceremoniously, the blonde Warrior began yelling at the sky.  
  
"DAMN YOU, YOU LITTLE BITCH! DAMN YOU TO CRAP BOOGER HELL! I HOPE LOKI THE SEAGULL AND THE SEA MONKEYS RIP OFF ALL YOUR LIMBS IN A VERY SLOW AND PAINFUL PROCESS!!"  
  
"Kelsey...?" Kia ventured quietly. The other gave no indication that she'd heard, even though she probably had.  
  
"DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU!! TRY TO MESS WITH THE MIRROR HOLDERS, WILL YOU?!"  
  
"Kelsey!" Kia hissed urgently. "Keep your voice down! We don't want-"  
  
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here."  
  
"...To attract the wrong attention," the girl finished, as Kurama began to slip from her hold. She got a better grip under his arms and hauled him back up, his feet still dragging the ground. Feeling distinctly uneasy, she turned her head to see just what kind of attention they HAD attracted.  
  
Obviously, the wrong kind. Nine misshapen youkai stood watching them with barely-concealed interest. The one in front with the mottled skin seemed to be the leader. Now, grinning broadly and showing a mouthful of pointed yellow teeth, he spoke.  
  
"Two ningen girls. Lucky day, eh, boys?"  
  
"Lucky day!" They agreed in unison. "Lucky day, boss."  
  
"And you know what we can do with them, eh, boys? We can eat good tonight...have fun, eh?"  
  
"Have fun with them! Have fun, boss!" The loyal octet chorused enthusiastically.  
  
This was too much. "Excuse me," Kia said firmly, before the leader could start preaching to his congregation again. "My friend and I are NOT going to let you eat us OR have fun with us."  
  
"You're not, eh?" He grinned again. "Too bad for you. I'm Shugo, leader of the Niji gang."  
  
Kelsey didn't bother to hold in her laughter. "NIJI?? Doesn't that mean 'rainbow'?"  
  
All nine youkai bristled. "Don't you be going about insulting our name, brat," one called out. He cringed under Shugo's glare. "S-s-sorry, boss. Didn't mean to speak without permission."  
  
"Oh, you DIDN'T, eh?" Before any of them could blink, the youkai's head was severed from his body and soared into the air, before coming back to earth and rolling to a stop right by Kia's feet. The Mirror Holder, without thinking, covered her mouth with her hands, letting Kurama fall in the process.  
  
"...Monster," Kelsey whispered, gray eyes flashing in anger, all laughter gone.  
  
"My men do not talk unless I tell them to." Shugo smirked, calmly admiring the large blade where his right hand had once been. A few seconds later, it shifted back. "If they disobey me, they are summarily executed."  
  
A cool, detached part of Kia's mind noted that "summarily" was one of her vocabulary words in English. Promptly, indeed. The head at her feet, face still wearing that surprised and fearful expression, was proof of that. And now, she couldn't speak. What kind of leader would behead one of his own men just for speaking out of turn? Most definitely a dangerous one.  
  
"Kia?" Kelsey looked at her friend. The girl was very pale, and her brown eyes were clouded. As the younger Mirror Holder stepped closer, something hard collided with the back of her head. She went down, and stayed down.  
  
Seeing her companion fall snapped Kia out of her temporary daze. "Kelsey!" She stared accusingly at the youkai. "What the hell did you-"  
  
Pain exploded in her mind; the girl saw bright lights when she blinked, and then blackness replaced her vision and she knew nothing more.  
  
Shugo chuckled, standing over the fallen brunette, hand now shaped like a mallet. It resumed hand form and he turned away, calling orders to his men. "Take the females. Leave the fox man-he reeks of disease and there's not enough meat on him to make a decent meal."  
  
"But boss, them girls aren't exactly meaty either," one pointed out nervously. He had good reason to be nervous. His head soon joined that of his deceased comrade.  
  
"Any other complaints?" Shugo growled. The remaining six hastily shook their heads. Kelsey and Kia were picked up, and they departed, leaving Youko Kurama behind.  
  
Not too long after they'd gone, a shadow fell over the unconscious kitsune. "Youko Kurama...hm. I wonder..."  
  
***The Camp of the Niji Gang***  
  
A throbbing ache in her head brought Kia back from the realm of troubled dreams. With a small groan, she opened her eyes, keeping them narrowed as her sensitive pupils adjusted to the light. Slight discomfort in her wrists and legs alerted her to the fact that her arms were chained behind her back, and her ankles were bound together. She opened her mouth to speak--and almost choked on the dirty rag that had been stuffed into her mouth, the rest of it tied at the back of her head.  
  
"Ah, so the dark-haired one awakens," came a quiet comment.  
  
With much effort, Kia was able to roll herself into a sitting position. She looked at the speaker. Oddly enough, this one seemed vaguely human-except for the gray cat ears poking out from his black hair, and the black-striped gray tail. He wore a sleeveless red shirt and a pair of tattered jeans.  
  
Kia stared at him. He met her gaze with bright golden eyes. "You're a funny one. You look just like a ningen, but your reiki is phenomenal, even if it IS hidden."  
  
The girl blinked. Who WAS this boy? It was true; the presence of her Mirror Half masked her reiki and youki, but how had HE known that? And he was talking to her! Why hadn't Shugo cut HIS head off?  
  
  
  
"Because I'm too valuable for him to kill." The boy chuckled at Kia's wide-eyed expression. "Calm down. I'll answer all of your questions. First off, my name is Kyattsuai. I'm a neko youkai...a cat demon, with the power of telepathic communication. Calm DOWN," he repeated, when the brunette stiffened. "I can't hear thoughts unless they're directed to me or they're really loud, such as in your case."  
  
The Mirror Holder relaxed. Okay, so he didn't seem that bad, compared to the others she'd met. But she still remained cautious. If only she could talk!  
  
"You want the gag out?" Kyattsuai asked.   
  
Once again, she'd been thinking too loud. She nodded.  
  
He paused. "If I take it out, promise not to scream or make any loud noises? I'm supposed to be guarding you. Remember, I'll know if you lie. Promise?"  
  
Kia nodded again, wincing. Her head HURT! What had that bastard hit her with? And where was Kelsey? They hadn't eaten her already, had they??  
  
Kyattsuai reached for the cloth, then abruptly drew his hand back when voices were heard just outside the small tent they were in.  
  
"Either you tell me about that Mirror, wench, or you'll be first in the pot!"  
  
"Bite me." Those two simple words made Kia sigh quietly in relief. The speaker was unmistakably Kelsey.  
  
Sure enough, Kelsey was thrown headlong into the tent. Kyattsuai caught her and set her beside Kia. She, too, was bound and chained, and clearly not too happy about it.  
  
"Stay in there!" Shugo barked from outside, as if he truly thought that Kelsey would be able to escape.  
  
"Go to hell!" The blonde retorted, sticking out her tongue in overt rebellion.  
  
"I'll enjoy feasting on your bones!" The leader snarled, and then he was gone. (A/N: Perfect pick-up line! Don't try that with your girlfriend/boyfriend, unless you want to get arrested. O.o)  
  
Kyattsuai leaned over and removed Kia's gag. "Shugo's a bastard, but he and the Niji gang are the only family I've got."  
  
"I didn't think family members beheaded one another regularly," Kia said quietly, trying to summon moisture to her cotton-dry mouth.  
  
He smiled ruefully. "They don't. But-"  
  
"No 'but's," Kelsey lectured him. "If we get out of this mess, we're going to help you out."  
  
"Help yourselves out first," the neko youkai advised. "I'd like to help you, but-"  
  
"Dinner Time!" Shugo bellowed. Cheers and raucous yells greeted his announcement, and the Mirror Holders were pulled roughly to their feet and dragged out to the main square, where a massive pot of boiling water and a hungry crowd of male youkai awaited them.  
  
"Now I'll ask you," Shugo said, grabbing Kia's chin in his hand. "How do we get the Mirror Halves?"   
  
"Like I'd tell you," she replied calmly.  
  
The leader shoved her away from him. One of the youkai caught her and set her upright. "Fine, then. We'll just pry the Halves from your baked bodies!"  
  
"You can't bake somebody in water," Kia pointed out.  
  
"Shut up!" He glared malevolently at her. "I'd like to roast you first, but your friend has an earlier reservation."  
  
"Actually, you can't roast anyone in water ei-"  
  
"THROW THEM BOTH IN!" Shugo howled indignantly.   
  
Immediately, half of the youkai lunged for Kelsey, and the remainder went after Kia. The blonde girl wasted no time in hopping away, cursing them at the top of her lungs. Kia wasn't so fortunate, as one grabbed the yellow scarf on her uniform and hauled her into the air. He glanced questioningly at the leader.  
  
"Permission to gloat granted, Wakadori," Shugo told him.  
  
He smiled delightedly. "Little ningen girl go in pot! Cute little ningen girl go in pot! Little girl, little girl..."  
  
Kia had had enough. "'Little girl'? I'll 'little girl' you! I'll 'little girl' you until not only are you black and blue, you're lime green!!" She swung in his hand and planted her shoes in his face. As he released her, someone else caught her instead.  
  
"Kyattsuai??"  
  
He set her down carefully, then tripped a youkai chasing Kelsey.  
  
"Arigato," the girl panted. "Hopping's HARD!"  
  
"Kyattsuai!!" Shugo yelled. "What are you DOING?!"  
  
"Something I should've done a long time ago," the neko youkai said grimly. "Shugo, you're a heartless bastard and I quit."  
  
Kelsey whooped. Kia smiled.  
  
The leader's eyes narrowed. "Oh, you DO, eh? Then YOU'LL die too!!" He formed his hand into a double-bladed axe (A/N: Rei: *bashes with Axe* Impostor!) and charged forward-only to be thrown back by a strong gust of wind. He sat up slowly, ugly face twisted with hate. "ATTACK!!"  
  
The youkai obeyed. Kia gritted her teeth, struggling to keep them at bay. For some reason, the effort it took to control the winds was wearing her out...and she started to suspect why that was.  
  
Just as one of the youkai finally broke through the shield, he let out a scream and dropped, sliced neatly in half...with something very small.  
  
Kelsey and Kia both stared. "...YOU!" The latter uttered in total amazement, before she lost her balance, and fell over.  
  
*OOC*  
  
Well...uh...that was strange. What's going on NOW?! Are Kia and Kelsey saved? Or are they in even MORE trouble?? Please review!  
  
I just realized...I don't know if my stories have themes...let's see. For Densetsu no Kagami, we learn that friendship, once made, is usually lasting and very hard to break...as you will see in Kikyoku. We also learned that cookie sheets make good weapons and sea monkeys CAN be evil! In Yarikake, we learned that if you're determined enough, you can do anything! Yes, anything...fight off a basilisk...outrun an avalanche...save seven continents...kiss someone you really despise to save Kurama's hide...heh. And in Densebyou, we will learn that bad luck is really evil, but...oh, crap, it's just basically about obstacles...and plus, I thought it'd be fun to make Hiei little! ^^ NEXT Chapter! Thanks to Celebrindae, Kelsey, kimpfn, and Lexi-chan, for...talking to me, updating, etc. And all my reviewers too!  
  
* Who the hell just cut down a youkai? Are Kia and Kelsey next?  
  
* Kurama's shrunk! Eek! Cute, but eek!  
  
* Well...in order to get the cure...it's not gonna be easy. You see, the Mirror Holders now have to find someone...three clues. She's a powerful demon lord, she's Hiei's boss in the future, and she used to eat ningens. Uh-oh... 


	8. Unexpected Assistance: A New Trial

^^ I feel so loved...SolusLupaKouken, you have excellent intuition...of course, you got the whole Youko Kurama bit getting sick too, but...^^;; Ah, well. Let me see...last chapter, Kia and Kelsey got into a whole mess of trouble with a gang governed by a youkai with superiority problems! And after putting up a good fight, someone just cut down a youkai! But...who is it? Heh heh heh...the answer is about to be revealed!  
  
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A tanned hand reached down, catching hold of Kia's shirt collar and effortlessly lifting her to her feet. The Mirror Holder seemed to be at a loss for words--her mouth was moving, but nothing was coming out.  
  
Kelsey spoke instead. "Chuu?!"  
  
"At your service, love." He grinned down at her, then turned to Shugo, who was staring at him rather oddly. "Hand over the keys to their chains, or you're next."  
  
"That's right!" A small voice piped up. A small boy stood beside the taller man, idly playing with a yo-yo. "Let 'em go." Rinku had shown up too.  
  
"Not likely!" Shugo retorted angrily. "I'll gladly give them up once I barbecue their bodies!"  
  
Kia sighed, finally recovering her voice. "Once again, you CAN'T barbecue somebody with water, Smart One."  
  
"And they're starting to annoy me." The leader was definitely starting to look pissed. "No one insults me and gets away with it! Now, my men--kill them ALL!"  
  
Judging from the looks on their faces, most of the youkai didn't want to-but they were too afraid and too attached to their heads to disobey. They attacked, and Rinku and Chuu leapt into the fray, the latter letting out some strange version of a war cry.  
  
"Diversion," Kia whispered to Kelsey. "I have an idea."  
  
The blonde girl nodded, and the ground began to rumble and shake. She'd come a long way, considering that she once had only been able to do this when she was furious-and then, she usually couldn't control it. Some of the youkai fell with startled yells. Shugo himself was having trouble keeping his footing. And then Kia glimpsed something bright and shiny at his waist. The keys!  
  
"Okay..." The girl muttered, concentrating. At her silent urging, a small breeze swooped down and discreetly slipped through the metal loop of the key ring. With a small jerk, it came free and Shugo looked up-just to see the key ring soar into the air. It hovered close to Kia, just above her head.  
  
"May I?" Kyattsuai inquired politely.  
  
"Go right ahead," Kia replied, and the keys floated lower. The neko youkai carefully caught hold of the key ring, then set to work unlocking the girls' chains. Meanwhile, Shugo, realizing that his men were getting their behinds (tailed or not) belabored, decided to make a run for it before Chuu and Rinku went after him. Unfortunately, he didn't account for two certain Mirror Holders.  
  
"Oh, NO you don't!" Kelsey glared at the fleeing Shugo, flames racing away from her to set his pants on fire. The sprint turned into a sort of hop-skip-limp, accompanied by cries of pain. "Kia, a little help?"  
  
"I'll be glad to." The next instant, the leader of the Niji gang was caught up in a carefully-controlled tornado and blown away, still yelling. "That's ONE-WAY ONLY, SIN ESCALA!" (No layover) Kia yelled back. When Kelsey raised pale eyebrows at her, the girl shrugged. "¿Qué? Él lo mereció." (What? He deserved it.)  
  
"Tu eres una hoja extraña de la galleta." (You are one strange cookie sheet.)  
  
"Tu eres uno a hablar." (You're one to talk.)  
  
"Now that THAT'S settled," Chuu said, menacingly approaching Kyattsuai, "you're the only one left."  
  
"No!" Kia cried, running out in front of Kyattsuai. "Don't! He's not bad!"  
  
"He helped us," Kelsey added.  
  
The tall youkai hesitated. "...Sure?"  
  
"HAI," they said in firm unison.  
  
"Okay, then! If he's alright with you, then he's alright with me!" Chuu, in an abrupt change of mood, slapped Kyattsuai jovially on the back. The neko youkai staggered slightly. "Or thanks for watching the girls for us."  
  
"Yeah!" Rinku agreed, running into Kia's arms and hugging her tightly.  
  
Kelsey looked around. Seven youkai were dead, and the rest were littered about, unconscious. "How'd you two find us?" She asked. "For that matter, how'd you even know we were IN Makai?"  
  
Chuu fingered the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "Well, love, we'd heard that two ningen girls and a redheaded boy were headed our way. We figured it was you, so we decided to meet you halfway, but we must've missed you. Then we heard a very familiar voice yellin' about seagulls and ocean monkeys (Kia coughed, and Kelsey nudged her in the ribs, whispering "Ssh!") or something."  
  
Rinku picked up the story. "We tried to follow the sound, but when we got there, we only found Youko Kurama, a few heads, and footprints leading away. So we followed the trail...and we found you!" He beamed proudly.  
  
"You found us," Kia agreed, lifting Rinku up and hugging him. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Kurama!! We left him-"  
  
"Oh, you mean THIS bastard?" The drunkard held up Youko Kurama by his white shirt.  
  
"Kurama! What-how did you-when did-oh, hell, I'm confused." The girl sighed.  
  
"Like Rinku said, we found Ole Foxy Boy back there. Knowin' you two and Chit-"  
  
"YOU know Kurama's girlfriend too??" Kelsey interrupted eagerly.  
  
"Ah..." Chuu sweatdropped. "Anyway, I knew you lot would tan my hide if I left him, so we brought the little bugger with us, see?" He shook Kurama slightly.  
  
"'Little', indeed." The blonde took a closer look at Kurama. "Looks like he shrunk, too."  
  
"Honey, I shrunk the Youko," Kia quipped. Kelsey groaned, trying not to smile.  
  
"Why, so he did!" Chuu seemed surprised. "Thought he was a little lighter, but..."  
  
Kyattsuai was completely baffled. "You've lost me."  
  
The younger Mirror Holder looked at her companion. "Will YOU tell him, or shall I?"  
  
"I will, I guess." Kia took a deep breath, and then launched into an explanation. "There's a disease going around that only affects youkai, making them regress in age until they reach two. At that point, they'll die, which is why Kelsey and I came here to find Chuu and Rinku, because they know about the cure, only they found us first, but we had to go through a hell of a lot to find them, including a youkai mob, Youko Kurama getting sick, hamsters, a storm, the Niji gang, some evil eight-year-old who's trying to stop us, we just left a bunch of kids alone with Yusuke and Kuwabara, and YOU'RE a youkai, which means that you could catch it too, and now I need some water."  
  
Kelsey applauded. Kyattsuai, only looking slightly less confused, silently tossed the girl a canteen. She gave him a grateful smile. He smiled back. "Don't worry about me. Cat demons are immune to most diseases."  
  
"Yes, well..." Kelsey shrugged. "Kurama thought HE was Superman, and now..." She trailed off, not wanting to complete the sentence. She didn't need to. "So..." She looked at Chuu. "I'd love to harass you about Kurama's girlfriend, but first things first. Cure info, onegai?"  
  
The youkai shifted, looking somewhat awkward. "Sorry we've been away so long...I feel bad leavin' you two at such a time..."  
  
"Why were you?" Kia asked. "I mean, it can't possibly take tqo months to bring Naien back to Makai!"  
  
"It didn't." Rinku answered for Chuu. "She's settled in now, but we..."  
  
"Had some business to take care of!" The older youkai said quickly. "We stayed with Shishi an' Suzuki an' Jin an' Touya in Suzuki's-"  
  
"NANI?!" Kelsey was starting to look dangerous. "So they were HERE. WITH YOU."  
  
"Kage wouldn't tell us where they'd gone, but they were away for awhile," the brunette added. "I don't even think KURAMA knew where they were! Why didn't you tell us?? We were afraid something had happened to you! Why keep it a secret??"  
  
"I know, love," Chuu said apologetically, leaning down to toy with her ponytail. "But Suzuki told us you and Kurama were in school, and we didn't want to interrupt your studies-"  
  
"That's the biggest load of bull-"  
  
"Be that as it MAY," Kia said, pointedly raising her voice to drown out Kelsey's unfinished expletive, "we're straying from the subject. Cure."  
  
"Ah...well..." The drunkard shuffled his feet, avoiding their eyes.   
  
"Four-one-one, Chuu," Kelsey said exasperatedly.  
  
He scratched his head. "Now, does it REALLY-"  
  
"THE CURE, Chuu!" Both Mirror Holders shouted.  
  
He sighed. "Alright, alright...no need to lose your tempers...it's not gonna be easy to get."  
  
"What else is new?" Kelsey rolled her gray eyes skyward.  
  
"Y'see, only one youkai holds it, and that youkai is one of the most powerful demons in Makai."  
  
"Who?" The girl looked blank.  
  
"Well, she used to...ah..." Chuu heaved another sigh. "It's Mukuro. She has the cure."  
  
"Who??" Kelsey repeated. Her friend seemed just as puzzled, but Kyattsuai looked horrified.  
  
The tall youkai was thunderstruck. "You DON'T KNOW WHO MUKURO IS?!"  
  
"No." The Mirror Holder blinked. "Should I?"  
  
"Wait..." Kia blinked as well. "I think I've about her from Touya. She's one of the three demon lords, isn't she? Raizen, Mukuro, and Yomi."  
  
"Right!" Rinku chimed in. "She's REALLY strong!"  
  
"And she-" The girl suddenly stopped. "Oh, Inari..."  
  
"What?" Kelsey prompted. When her friend didn't reply, she repeated the question, louder this time.  
  
"She..." Kia closed her eyes briefly. "She used to eat ningens..."  
  
"Oh, no. No. NO!!" Kelsey glared vehemently at Chuu. "You are NOT sending us on a suicide mission to some demon lady who EATS PEOPLE!!"   
  
"She doesn't eat them anymore," Chuu said uncomfortably. "Raizen made her and Yomi promise not to. It's just her army you'll want to watch out for. They have it in for ningens and those that aren't...fully human, but also not fully youkai."  
  
"You mean hanyous." Kia slowly sank to the ground, head drooping. "...This is entirely hopeless. We have no idea where Mukuro IS! And what makes you think she'll just go 'Why, sure, nice ningen girls! Here, take it, and please join me for dinner, while we watch I Love Lucy and talk about plans for world piece and unity among the races!' and hand the cure over to us?!"  
  
Rinku looked up at her anxiously. "You two are Mirror Holders! (A/N: As if that'll count for anything.) I'm sure you'll come up with something...and Chuu can give you directions, right, Chuu?"  
  
"'Course!" The youkai assured the two doubtful females, pulling Kia up. "An' you'll prove to Mukuro and her army that you're no pushovers, and you'll have the cure in no time!"  
  
"I love the optimism," Kelsey said dryly, checking her watch-only to discover that it had vanished. "What the-hey, has anyone seen my watch?"  
  
Kia silently pointed, setting Rinku down. Youko Kurama was awake...and delicately prodding at the glass surface of Kelsey's wristwatch. "Shiiiiny..." Definitely younger, same attitude.  
  
That decided both girls. "Okay, we're going now!" Kia announced.   
  
"We'll stay behind for a bit...deal with these blokes here." Chuu indicated the youkai members, some of which were starting to stir, moaning in pain. "But we'll catch up later and bring Kurama too. And Cat boy."  
  
The Mirror Holders nodded, and Kia accepted the map Chuu proffered. With a wave, and twin sighs, they set off...to find someone they didn't really want to meet...Lord Mukuro.  
  
*OOC*  
  
My goodness...well, at least they have SOME good news! They found Chuu and Rinku! But now Kurama is being chibified, and the girls have to find Mukuro! I wonder what's next...anyway, please review! Makes authoresses like me very happy! NEXT chapter!  
  
* Well, they're off again...but...Binetsu's out to stop them at all costs! Including a storm...a pit...  
  
* The girls meet a traveler on the road, and gain a new companion! Exactly what kind of person is Sei?  
  
* Things start to get REALLY strange when they reach Mukuro's place...what the hell is going on?! 


	9. Journey to Mukuro

Whew...it's now time for chapter nine! Now, then...I will be giving out ten ferrygirls! They'll have little cameos in one of the stories I'm working on, but they are currently adoptable! Able to be used as muses, comic relief, entertainment, transportation, story characters, or whatever. Starting now, I'll be describing a ferrygirl. If you can guess what her name means, she's yours! Hint: They all have plant names. The first ferrygirl, Byakushin, will be described at the end of the chapter...which I had better write now! As for last chapter...no, it is not "world piece"...I meant "world peace"...I was really out of it. -.-  
  
Last chapter, Kia and Kelsey finally met up with Chuu and Rinku...but now they have a new assignment...FIND MUKURO. Hoo...  
  
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"Oh, the doctors at our camp,   
  
They say are mighty fine,  
  
But when I broke a finger,  
  
He broke the other nine!"  
  
"Oh, I don't wanna go to Girl Scout camp!" Kelsey sang out.  
  
"Gee, Mom, I wanna go,  
  
But they won't let me go,  
  
Gee, Mom, I wanna go hooome!" Both girls harmonized.  
  
"That was fun!" The blonde Mirror Holder said brightly. "What song shall we sing next?"  
  
Kia smiled. "Save it for later-right now, we have a river to cross." She warily stared at the rushing, playfully cavorting water, judging the distance from here to the other side. Definitely too far to jump, but maybe if they swam...  
  
"Ain't no mountain high enough  
  
Ain't no valley low enough  
  
Ain't no RIVERwide enough  
  
To stop us, 'cause Binetsu suuucks-"  
  
The older girl sweatdropped. "Kelsey, I don't think you want to do that...every time you do, SOMETHING always happens to us, and it's never good." She inched closer to the river, treading cautiously as the damp ground sank slightly under her weight.  
  
Kelsey snorted, skeptical. "What can she possibly do? Send another-"  
  
The sky darkened, rain poured down, and thunder rumbled ominously.  
  
"...Storm," she finished, damp bangs plastering themselves on her forehead. "Okay, no problem! We'll just find another-"  
  
Lightning hit too close, sizzling as it struck a nearby tree. Kelsey yelped and leapt closer to Kia. The ground, already weakening, gave out from under them, dumping the Mirror Holders into the churning water.  
  
"I haaate you, Binetsuuuu!!" Kelsey yelled over the roar of the water and the pounding rain, just before it pulled her under.  
  
"Kelsey!!" Kia desperately floundered, searching her friend. Her frantic search turned up nothing. This was definitely not a good day. "Kel-"  
  
The water rose up, and then plunged down with the force and ferocity of a miniature tidal wave. The girl almost inhaled water, fighting against the fierce current that was doggedly yanking her down, trying to drown her. Even IF she had been fresh and rested, getting to the surface would have been no easy feat. As it were, she hadn't eaten OR slept since Kurama had fallen ill, and she lacked the energy required to break free.  
  
Kia made one final valiant effort to reach the surface. She might've made it, if her head hadn't suddenly struck a large river rock as she went by it. She was out like a light, and the river swept her limp form away.  
  
***Somewhere...***  
  
A pair of different colored eyes watched as the storm gradually subsided, the owner smiling as she peered into the seeing well.  
  
"That'll teach them to mock ME! They can drown, for all I-" She broke off abruptly. Beneath the churning, white-capped water, she could see a faint silver glow. A majestic ebon stallion suddenly exploded from the water, feathered wings pumping furiously, strong ivory teeth clamped on a fuchsia shirt. Kia hung lifelessly from his mouth, eyes closed.  
  
"Meikyou," Binetsu said softly, watching as the horse flew to shore, landing silently and depositing his mouthful on the ground before disappearing. "The beastfrom the Mirror Half of Compassion...looks like this won't be as easy as I'd originally thought."  
  
***Back to Makai***  
  
Kia came to, coughing up mass quantities of liquid. With a weak groan, she shakily pushed herself up halfway, looking around. What had happened? The last thing she remembered was trying to hold her breath underwater and get to fresh air again...and now she was on the other side of the river-alone.  
  
"I'll figure out how I survived later. But first..." She suddenly realized, with dawning dismay, that she'd lost her backpack in her struggle for survival. Her change of clothes, her canteen, and Chuu's map were all gone. "...Oh, joy and astringent pomite fruit."  
  
"I hate you, Binetsu..." The plaintive comment made Kia stand up, searching for the source of the familiar voice.  
  
The tirade continued. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I-"  
  
"Kelsey!" The girl, having followed the sound, paused as the ground crumbled slightly when she stepped on it. Remembering the river incident all-too-clearly, she took a step back, her eyes falling on the large hole in the ground. "Oh, you're KIDDING!" Dropping to her knees, she crawled over to the edge and peered down. Sure enough, there was Kelsey, bedraggled and scowling, and sitting on the dirt floor.  
  
Kia blinked, figuring the hole had to be at least six feet deep. "This is so hopeless, I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or become a nun."  
  
At the sound of her quiet voice, the blonde Mirror Holder looked up. "If we survive this, I'll accept Kuwabara's cat as a god and offer daily sacrifices to it."  
  
The other female grinned, concentrating. Wind wrapped securely around her friend, supporting her as it bore her up and out of the pit.  
  
Kelsey groaned. "Kuso! Now my plans for Eikichism will have to fade once more in obscurity...and I was gonna let you be the bishop, too."  
  
"I'll recover, I'm sure." Still smiling, relieved that her friend was all right, Kia got to her feet. "So...where are we?"  
  
"Check the map," Kelsey suggested.  
  
The other grimaced. "I can't. It got washed away."  
  
The Mirror Holder made a face as well. "Did I, by any chance, mention that I hate Binetsu?"  
  
"More than enough," she was quickly assured. "But don't worry. Even IF we're stranded out here without a map, extra clothes, food, and...whatever...we'll probably find some horribly obvious, yet devious way of overcoming this."  
  
There came a sudden bellow, almost drowning out the scream that preceded it. Kelsey pointed to a youkai that looked just like a rhinoceros, only with two switching tails and dull red eyes. It was peering shortsightedly into a hole similar to the one that had imprisoned Kelsey. The scream came again.  
  
"...Okay, forget about obvious and devious!" Kia threw her hands up. "Someone needs our help."  
  
"Let's distract it." Before Kia could stop her, the younger girl was running towards the rhino. She came to a halt about two feet from its snout and burst into song.  
  
"It's the circle of liiiiiife...and it moves us allllllll..."  
  
"I'll take what I can get, I suppose..." Kia shook her head and inched around the youkai, who had stopped what it was doing to watch Kelsey's song-and-dance routine. "Are you okay?" She called down.  
  
"Hai..." The voice, low and hesitant, definitely belonged to a woman...if that's what the cloaked figure huddled in the bottom of the pit was.  
  
The girl nodded. "Hold on. I'll have you out in a minute." She repeated the same trick she'd done with Kelsey, and the figure was lifted out and set gently on her feet. Attired in a full-length gray robe, you couldn't distinguish any details; the face was completely hidden within the shadows and folds of the large hood. Judging from the voice, the figure was female, and she was a great deal taller than the cookie sheet-wielding Mirror Holder.  
  
"Coming through!" Kelsey yelled suddenly as the rhino galloped past, the former clinging to the ridged back of the latter.  
  
"Kelsey!" Kia leaped aside to avoid getting trampled; the cloaked stranger did the same. "Let go!"  
  
"Oh, right!" The blonde relaxed her grip and jumped off, just as the youkai plunged into the recently-vacated hole with a squeal. In silence, the three watched its descent-then turned away from the impact, the two girls wincing. If the figure had any sentiments, she chose not to display them.  
  
"May I ask the names of those who have assisted me greatly?" She inquired.  
  
"Oh, sure. I'm Kelsey, and my friend here is Satsukiame-"  
  
"KIA," the other girl growled.  
  
"We're Mi-" She yelped as Kia sharply elbowed her in the side. "I mean...ah...we're..." She cast about for a word. "MINDING our own business while we search for Mukuro-" Kia shook her head frantically, mouthing "NO", and Kelsey stopped, sweatdropping.  
  
"Mukuro?" The figure seemed surprised. "Why do you seek her?"  
  
Both girls sighed resignedly. "Chuu--a friend-- told us she had the cure for a disease that only strikes down youkai," Kia explained. "But we lost the map, and now we have no idea how to get there."  
  
To their surprise, the woman suddenly exclaimed "Oh, that's perfect!" in a delighted tone.  
  
"It...is?" Kelsey seemed just as baffled as her companion.  
  
"Hai! I'm one of Lord Mukuro's servants! I can take you to her! That is, if..." She hesitated. "Forgive me for asking, but you two wouldn't happen to be the Mirror Holders, would you?"  
  
"Neon signs," Kia said cryptically. Her friend nodded, understanding. "Umm...hai, we are."  
  
She clapped her hands together. "Lord Mukuro has heard so much about you! I'm sure she'd LOVE to meet you both!"  
  
"She's not going to eat us, is she?" Kelsey asked nervously.  
  
"Eat you?"  
  
"We heard that she used to eat ningens..." Embarrassed, Kia scuffed at the ground with a dusty shoe, tracing delicate patterns.  
  
"But you're not fully ningen, are you?" Mukuro's servant had a hint of amusement in her tone.  
  
The girls glanced at each other.  
  
"Okay, that's too weird," Kelsey muttered, turning back to the cloaked female. "Do you have a name?"  
  
The movement of the hood indicated that she was shaking her head no. "Lord Mukuro does not allow her servants to have names. We are not important enough."  
  
"That's insane!" Kia snapped indignantly. "What kind of a lord is this Mukuro person? Servants have feelings, too! When I see Mukuro, I have a thing or two to say to her, and none of it is 'Bless you and your superior attitude!'" Brown eyes sparkling with anger, she continued. "We'll just have to call you something for now...like...Sei."  
  
"Sei?" Kelsey blinked. The other shrugged.  
  
"Sei," the servant echoed. "I like it. But I am not worthy of-"  
  
"Oh, stop that!" The brunette glared half-heartedly. "Of course you are. You seem like a nice enough person, and everyone deserves a name of their own!"  
  
The newly christened Sei bowed. "Arigato gozaimasu, Mirror Holders. You are both very kind."  
  
The younger girl flushed. "Well...shall we go find this lord of yours?"  
  
***Some obscure amount of time later...***  
  
"Kia," Kelsey whispered, as the girls followed Sei, falling back a bit.  
  
"Nani?" The girl tilted her head questioningly. "What is it?"  
  
"You...me...we're...are we...?"  
  
"I think so." Kia didn't have to ask what Kelsey meant. Deep down, she felt it, and knew with a sort of dreadful certainty.  
  
"Daijoubu?" Sei turned back. "Am I going too fast?"  
  
"No, of course not!" The brunette replied immediately. "I just hope Mukuro will help..."  
  
Sei nodded. "Why do you seek this cure? Are you sick?"  
  
"It's for our youkai friends," Kelsey told her. "We can't sit back and let them die, so..."  
  
"We're the only healthy ones left, besides Chuu and Rinku," Kia added. "Which is why we're here."  
  
"We're here!" Sei announced.  
  
About to ask her why she had repeated the words, Kia stopped instead-and stared.  
  
They stood in front of a large black granite edifice with jutting peaks. Three heavily-armored guards were positioned near the front doors, scowling as the three approached.  
  
"It's huge!" Kelsey murmured, storm-gray eyes wide with wonder and awe.  
  
Kia couldn't speak, so she settled for a nod of agreement.  
  
"Name and business," one of the guards demanded, glaring down at them.  
  
"I am a lowly servant of Lord Mukuro, bringing the Mirror Holders to see her," Sei informed him.  
  
The guard leaned down, staring Kia in the eyes. Slightly unnerved, she nevertheless forced herself to meet his dark eyes. "The Mirror Holders? They look like ningens to me." He thrust his face closer. Kia stepped back. "But their energy...it doesn't FEEL like a ningen's."  
  
"Will you just let us through to see the boss lady?" Kelsey said impatiently.  
  
"Consorting with ningens..." Another guard sighed and shook his head morosely. "I'm getting too old for this." He stepped aside as the doors creaked inward.  
  
"It's even bigger INSIDE!" The younger girl was plainly impressed.  
  
"Maybe..." Kia frowned. "But where's Mukuro? I want to give her a piece of my mind about the way she treats her servants." (A/N: She came for a cure? Really? O.o)  
  
"Actually, she's already received it, Kia."  
  
Both girls froze. Neither one spoke, moved, OR breathed for what seemed like an eternity. Their eyes were locked on the cloaked figure, who had stopped in front of another set of doors.  
  
"Sei...?" Kelsey whispered disbelievingly  
  
Kia suddenly understood. "You mean-you're-and I-oh, crap."  
  
The woman chuckled, raising elegant hands to lower her hood. She turned to face them, revealing a regal countenance, one half flawless and beautiful with a twinkling deep blue eye. The other side of her face was covered in rags, with an eyeglass where the other eye would have normally resided. Parted to the right, cropped auburn hair brushed against her shoulder. "Well. I never expected to encounter the Mirror Holders so informally. Where are my manners?"  
  
"Kia," Kelsey said in a strangled whisper, ending on a squeak. "It's the BOSS LADY!"  
  
The other girl nodded, at a loss for words once again.   
  
Sei was Lord Mukuro. Boss lady, indeed.  
  
*OOC*  
  
Bet you didn't expect that, did ya? ^^ I love surprising twists. Wow. Sei is actually Mukuro...wow. Please review! I love 'em! NEXT chapter!  
  
* Mukuro reveals her reason for a disguise...  
  
* Hey...what would happen if KIA AND KELSEY got sick?? Uh-oh...  
  
* When some of the men in Mukuro's army harass the girls, guess what they do in retaliation? Heh heh heh...  
  
And now, here is ferrygirl #1, Byakushin! Guess what her name means and get her!  
  
Name: Byakushin  
  
Age: 136 (died at the age of 17)  
  
Birthday: December 9  
  
Clothing: A navy blue kimono with a green obi, and a lighter green kimono underneath.  
  
Hair Color/Style: Dark green; wears it in a high ponytail that goes past her waist.  
  
Eye Color: Blue  
  
Height: 5'7''  
  
Weight: 118 lbs.  
  
Personality: Cynical. (feel free to elaborate her personality if you get her! ^^)  
  
Well, there you go. Good luck! If no one gets her name right, I'll give her to some randomly selected participant. 


	10. Illness Takes Hold

Congratulations to starkitty, who got the first ferrygirl, Byakushin! Yes, her name means "Juniper". Remember, they're all plant names. Not to worry, there are still nine ferrygirls left, and once you win one, you can't get another. It's only fair.  
  
Last chapter, Kia and Kelsey met up with Sei, a servant of Mukuro! After Sei guarded them to Mukuro's fortress, she revealed herself as no less than Mukuro herself! Uh-oh...what have the Mirror Holders gotten themselves into NOW?  
  
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"Mukuro! Lord! Uh...Lady...boss lady?" Kelsey was incredibly flustered. She nudged Kia expectantly.  
  
"I'm so screwed," the girl said bleakly. Just how much had she insulted Mukuro...to Mukuro? "Go ahead and eat me now."  
  
The demon lord chuckled. "I don't eat ningens anymore...and my first assumption was correct, wasn't it? You two have youkai blood."  
  
They nodded affirmation, neither girl relaxing much.  
  
Mukuro eyed them amusedly. "Doubtless you're curious to know why I tricked you."  
  
"It's crossed our minds," Kelsey wryly admitted.   
  
"Fair enough. Not much that goes on around here escapes my attention. I'd received news that the infamous holders of the Densetsu no Kagami were seeking the cure to a devastating disease. Naturally, I was a bit curious myself. Why did you need that cure? What were you like? What powers did you possess and how did two unlikely girls defeat Netami and free seven continents in the Ningenkai? What special assets enabled you to become the Mirror Holders?" She smiled at Kelsey and Kia. "Of I had met you in my true form, you wouldn't have been your true selves, so I tested you by disguising myself as a servant to witness the REAL Mirror Holders. And, sure enough, you passed."  
  
"So..." Kia spoke up. "That whole servant thing..."  
  
"All a lie to see your reaction. When you responded with indignation, I knew that your role as a Healer and the Mirror Holder the Compassion half rang true. You truly cared." Mukuro turned to Kelsey. "Just as I knew you had fully earned the Mirror Half of Courage when you stood up against that youkai. Of course, I could have defeated it, but I wanted to call you both to me and see you in action."  
  
"So you're not going to eat us?" Kelsey asked hopefully.  
  
"No, I'm not." The woman smoothed her hair down and looked at them gravely. "From what you've told me, your friends are very sick. And if this continues, others in Makai will catch it as well." She smirked. "Even that old goat Yomi is susceptible to it. No youkai is safe, then."  
  
Kia nodded. "Which is why we have to cure everyone as soon as possible before it spreads even further."  
  
"Even if we have to destroy the disease itself," Kelsey added boldly. "That baking soda crap or whatever..."  
  
Mukuro wore a very strange expression on the left portion of her face as she regarded the Mirror Holders. "...I never met your mothers, but you both certainly possess your fathers' spirits in great quantity."  
  
"...Nani?" Something told her she needed to understand that, but for all her efforts, Kia couldn't decipher it. Her head was aching fiercely and the hall was beginning to spin and twirl like some sort of distorted grotesque ballet.  
  
"I thought so..." She could hear Kelsey mumble, as her friend slowly slid to the ground in a slumped-over sitting position. At once, her legs seemed unable to support her anymore, and the older girl collapsed.   
  
"Don't..." Kia warned weakly, trying to lift her head as Mukuro approached. Why did it feel like such a dead weight? "Don't come near us...you might catch it too..."  
  
"I've already had it." The youkai lord bent down, placing her hands under Kia's shoulders and knees and lifting her up. "How long have you known?"  
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about," the girl said, keeping her face marvelously composed.  
  
"...I see..." Mukuro motioned to someone Kia didn't know, who came forward to pick up Kelsey.   
  
No...Kia's eyelids suddenly weighed just as much as a ton of bricks. It was all she could do to keep them from dropping. She was dimly aware of Mukuro instructing someone to take Kelsey to a room...  
  
I can't...if we get sick, what will happen to everyone back home?  
  
She couldn't keep sleep at bay any longer.  
  
It can't...end like this...  
  
***At Suzuki's House***  
  
-This isn't good.- Kage rose languidly from his sprawled-out position on the couch and leapt to the floor.  
  
"You're not kidding!" Yusuke gritted, trying to maintain a grip on both Rei and Jin. The little priestess was trying to chase after Kuwabara with Axe. Considering that the thing now weighed more and was much larger than the six-year-old, this was an impressive feat, and one that didn't daunt Rei in the slightest.  
  
-No, that's not what I meant.- The big dog heaved a sigh. -Kelsey and Kia have caught the disease.-  
  
"But they CAN'T!" Kuwabara protested. "They're ningens-aren't they?"  
  
-Yes and no.- Kage looked at the redheaded boy. -But that does not matter right now. What matters is that the girls are sick. And time is running out.-  
  
"How much time do we have left?" Yusuke asked him, frowning, and finally getting a better hold on Rei. "How many days."  
  
-Four days. And with the Mirror Holders ill...-  
  
"But what about Kurama?" Kuwabara persisted. "Can't he-"  
  
-In transforming into his Youko form, Kurama also fell to the disease.-  
  
"Kuso!" the black-haired Tantei growled. "This sucks! And we can't do anything?!"  
  
Kage sighed once more. -Precisely.- He glanced out the fogged window with soulful eyes, as Jin started to play with his tail. -Mirror Holders...what now?-  
  
***Back to Makai***  
  
  
  
"What now?" Kelsey turned on her side, propping herself up with her elbow, facing Kia. The two lay in separate canopy beds in an ornate room. Wan light filtered in through the dusty window, dappling on the girls' bed covers.   
  
Kia narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on the blonde girl who had addressed her. "I don't know..." she admitted, trying to free herself from her restricting sheets. It was so hot, and even the cool cloth on her forehead was burning to her muddled senses.   
  
"How long have you known?" Kelsey repeated the question that Mukuro had posed earlier.  
  
Kia's response, however, differed from her previous answer. "I think I suspected back when we were fighting the Niji gang...I felt so weak when I had that barrier up, and it never tired me out before...at least, not that quickly."  
  
The other Mirror Holder nodded. "Around that time, huh? Me too...guess we're just a pair of stubborn bakas."  
  
"We didn't have much of a choice," The brunette told her. "We had to keep going...as long as we could stand, walk...we had a chance."  
  
"And do you still think we have that chance now?"  
  
"...Hai. But a very slim one." Kia sighed quietly, giving up her struggle against the sheets, and sank back against her pillow.  
  
Kelsey, about to ask yet another question, tensed when she heard the door creak open. Her head throbbed when she tried to see who it was.  
  
"So these are the little half-breeds Mukuro brought in? And now here they are, while she looks for that cure." A rough voice, slightly jeering.  
  
Kia didn't say anything, but both girls were immediately alert...well, as alert as one could be in their condition. Still, it came as a surprise when the dark-haired Mirror Holder found herself face-to-face with a green-skinned youkai with bulging red eyes. For a moment, the two stared at each in silence. Then the youkai gave a snort of disgust.  
  
"THIS is one of the infamous Mirror Holders? She looks weak to me."  
  
"Try me," the girl suggested sweetly, a hint of challenge in her tone. "Then tell me how weak I am."  
  
He sneered. "Big talk for such a little girl."  
  
"Big mouth for such a little brain," Kia countered. Why was he bothering her? She didn't have the strength to exchange insults with this idiot! Just ARGUING with him exhausted her!  
  
His mouth tightened and he lunged for her. "I don't care if they ARE the Mirror Holders! No one insults me and gets away with it!"  
  
Kia let out a strangled yelp as he knocked her back, head colliding with the headboard.  
  
"Hey, leave her alone!" Kelsey shouted angrily, in a hoarse voice.  
  
Another youkai, this one with blotchy purple skin, laughed. "Why should we, you filthy little hanyou? We don't welcome ningens OR half-breeds here." His laughter increased in volume-then suddenly ceased with a choked cry as a giant black dragon clamped its jaws over his head.  
  
A second later, Kia watched with wide, somewhat-unfocused eyes as a black winged horse threw himself at her attacker, and hurled him through the open door. "...Mei..."  
  
Both horse and girl turned when they heard muffled screams, issuing from the dragon's hapless prisoner.  
  
"Drop, Nasei," Kelsey said wearily. Only SHE would address a giant winged, fire-breathing creature with the same sort of tone one might use on a naughty puppy. The draconic beast obeyed, and the demon hastily fled, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Kia...daijoubu?"  
  
"My head hurts..." Kia weakly waved to Meikyou as the horse disappeared in a flash of silver light, back to his Mirror Half. In a moment, Nasei had done the same. "But I'm okay..."  
  
"You are such a bad liar." The blonde girl sighed.  
  
"...True." The other sighed as well. "But...I don't know, I just feel like crying..."  
  
"No crying," Kelsey told her sternly, coughing. "Promise me."  
  
"No cry-"  
  
"Not until I say so. PROMISE."  
  
Kia closed her eyes. "All right. I promise..." She'd regret making that promise later, but for now, all she cared about was going to sleep. Which she eventually accomplished.  
  
***Somewhere ELSE in Makai...***  
  
Rinku knelt on the ground, investigating the two pairs of footprints that abruptly ended near the river. The boy sighed, looking up at his comrade. "Chuu, this isn't good. It looks like they fell in."  
  
"Poor little things..." The drunkard took a swig of sake from a canteen, before offering it to Youko Kurama. "Hey, want a taste of the good stuff?"  
  
"CHUU!" Rinku sounded shocked.  
  
"What??" He said defensively. "Little bugger's probably thirsty! And you can't POSSIBLY tell me that he didn't get drunk when he was older!"  
  
"He's only around TWELVE now!" The boy shouted. "Can we PLEASE try to find Kia and Kelsey??"  
  
"Righ', righ'..." Chuu sighed. "Ruin all my fun." Truth to tell, he was worried. What had happened to the Mirror Holders? Had they found Mukuro? Were they even alive?  
  
The smaller youkai looked up at the sky. "Please be all right..."  
  
*OOC*  
  
Okay! Only 7 more chapters left...*thunk* I can do this. I think. Maybe. Ah, well. Please review! NEXT chapter!  
  
* The cure has been found! But can it be mixed up in time?  
  
* While they wait, Mukuro reveals how she knew Kia and Kelsey's fathers.  
  
* Guess who's back? Three hints. She's short, she wears large sunglasses, and she wants to destroy a few things...  
  
And now for ferrygirl #2, Safuran! This one should be relatively easier to guess.  
  
Name: Safuran  
  
Age: 271 (died at age 15)  
  
Birthday: October 23  
  
Clothing: Black kimono, light blue obi, yellow kimono underneath.  
  
Hair Color/Style: Golden, slightly curly, kind of long. Wears it in low ponytail or down.  
  
Eye Color: Brown  
  
Height: 5'4''  
  
Weight: 101 lbs.  
  
Personality: Cheerful. (not scary-cheerful like Botan, though. Optimistic in a logical sense.)  
  
^^ Whew. And still Lexi-chan remains ahead of me. ^^;; 


	11. History Revealed

Kimpfn has won the second ferrygirl, Safuran...AKA Saffron. I TOLD you it was easy, didn't I? The next one won't be as easy, I'm afraid...and my writing may be a bit odd today. . Hurt my ankle and it's still throbbing...but I'm not here to complain! I'm here to write chapter 11! A combined force of reviews, Christmas presents, updates, and conversations with Lexi-chan, Kelsey, and Kaly have inspired me! So, let me get started!  
  
Last chapter, Kia and Kelsey met Mukuro...and now suddenly, they've both fallen ill! That sucks, doesn't it? Thanks to Lexi-chan for helping me out with the idea for how Mukuro met the girls' fathers!  
  
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Mukuro stood in the doorway, gaze resting on the two bedridden Mirror Holders. Kia was curled up on her side, the wet cloth slipping off her forehead to plop on the pillow. Kelsey was tossing about feverishly, moaning incomprehensible phrases in her sleep.   
  
The woman sighed. It had taken her a full day to locate the cure after tireless searching, and it had cost the girls two years each. Kia was now fourteen, and Kelsey was thirteen. Now, Mukuro approached Kia's bed. She knew better than to feel the girl's forehead-she'd burned her palms enough. So she settled for shaking the smaller female's shoulder gently. "Kia. Wake up."  
  
It took three more tries before the girl's long lashes parted to reveal muddled dark eyes, the pupils dilated from sleep. "Mukuro...?" She coughed, the sound rattling in her throat. She was still old enough to retain her prior intelligence, Mukuro noted, observing as her eyes slowly brightened as she awoke further. Good.  
  
"The cure has been found, and it's being brewed as we speak. I trust you can wait an hour or so? I had the entire packet brewed, so as to be prepared...just in case."  
  
Kia slowly nodded. "...How long have I been asleep?"  
  
"Only since yesterday," the demon lord assured her. "You have a time limit?"  
  
"Hai. Nine days." The brunette frowned. "But I don't know..."  
  
"We were in Ningenkai for four days." Kelsey had awakened without either of them noticing. "And we've been in Makai for two days. So we have three days left."  
  
"Well, you'll be fine soon enough," Mukuro told them briskly. "But for now, you'll just have to wait until the cure is ready for use."  
  
Suddenly, Kia remembered something that had been lurking in the back of her mind, and that was now nagging at her continuously. "Mukuro? You mentioned our dads...but how did you know them?" Her father had been a ningen, and hadn't Kelsey's father remained in the United States? How, then, was it possible that a demon lord had known them?  
  
To her surprise, the woman chuckled and went over to Kelsey's bed, freeing the Mirror Holder from her sheets and carrying her back to Kia's bed. She set her down on the bedspread and settled down beside them both. "I've never been much at storytelling...but I think you both have the right to know this."  
  
Kia sat up carefully, propping herself up against her pillow. Kelsey scooted over by her friend, and they both looked expectantly at Mukuro.   
  
"When I was a little girl," she began, "I became a slave to a horrible man. I was made to satisfy his...wishes...his expectations as a man."  
  
"You mean...he didn't...he DID??" Kia whispered, appalled.   
  
Mukuro smiled with only a trace of bitterness. "Yes, Kia, he did."  
  
"That bastard!" Kelsey growled, fever-bright eyes sparkling furiously.   
  
Her friend nodded in complete agreement. "That's horrible..."  
  
"Gradually, I took matters into my own hands. I poured acid onto the right side of my body, thus disfiguring it. Repulsed, my captor left me alone. I escaped, but got lost in a blizzard. Weak and in terrible shape, I was rescued by two young men, both about fifteen years old. Kakushigei and Tatsu. Your fathers."  
  
Kia blinked. She'd disfigured herself? That took courage. Exactly what did her face look like now? The bandages and rags prevented her from knowing.   
  
"Kaku, it seems, had gotten lost, having stumbled in from Ningenkai," Mukuro continued. "Tatsu was visiting his youkai parents. They met up, found me, and decided to stay with me until I had recovered sufficiently. I was soon able to tolerate the pain, and the two young men were excellent companions, doing all in their power to protect me while I recuperated. After that, Kaku remained in Makai, visiting me often, and he eventually married a young woman from the Hakaze tribe, fathering the Mirror Holder, Satsukiame. (Kia gave a start upon hearing her name.) Tatsu went to Ningenkai, married, and fathered the Mirror Holder, Kelsey. I was pleased to hear this...but soon both had died and I never had the opportunity to meet Kelsey." She looked at Kia. "About a week after your birth and a month before his death, your father brought you to me. You were so tiny, but your spirit was strong, even as an infant. I regret not getting to meet Kelsey earlier, but I am not suited for visits to Ningenkai, no matter how brief."  
  
Both Mirror Holders were silent, Kia twisting the sheets and twining them between her fingers.   
  
"Your fathers would be proud of you," Mukuro said with uncharacteristic gentleness. "Trust me on that."  
  
"Arigato gozaimasu..." The brunette could barely choke out the words, thanks to the sudden lump in her throat. "I'm glad you told us..."  
  
"So am I." Kelsey sneezed, then went on. "So...what's this about acid?" She could sense they needed a subject change.  
  
Mukuro slowly and carefully unwrapped the right side of her face with deliberate movements. Kia gasped, and Kelsey stared involuntarily.  
  
The demon lord's face was all muscle, the skin gone. It was a blotchy purple and her eye was small, with no iris, no eyelashes or lids, nothing.  
  
"...Doesn't that hurt...?" Kia ventured cautiously.  
  
Mukuro smiled. "Compared to what that slaver put me through, this is nothing. My beauty has been ruined, but it's a small price to pay."  
  
The girl shook her head. "There are different types of beauty," she said quietly. "You just destroyed the material one. Your true beauty hasn't even been tarnished." (A/N: Speech of the week! Whoo!)  
  
The regal youkai regarded her seriously. "You truly are your father's daughter," she remarked at last.  
  
Kia smiled tiredly. "I'm just me. Being anyone else is pointless."  
  
"It's been an hour," Kelsey spoke up, glancing at the wristwatch she'd recovered from Kurama.  
  
The woman sighed and rose. "I'd best check on the cure, then."  
  
Both girls flinched when they heard a loud bellow.   
  
"THEY'D BETTER BE HERE OR I'M GOING TO BE A VERY ANGRY-"  
  
"Mukuro-sama!!" An out-of-breath youkai skidded in. "There's a tall youkai with a little boy and a Youko with him, and he's insisting on seeing the-"  
  
"THERE you are!" Rinku poked his head into the room, grinning sheepishly. "They wouldn't let us in, and so Chuu broke a few legs. Hey, Chuu, they're in here!"  
  
The bellowing ceased abruptly, and the drunkard strode in, dragging Kurama behind him. Judging from appearance, the Youko was now about nine or ten.   
  
"THERE you are!" Chuu echoed Rinku's previous exclamation, approaching the bed where the girls sat. "What have-" He broke off, staring hard at them. "Matte...you look YOUNGER."  
  
"We caught it," Kelsey affirmed cheerfully, without a trace of guilt or remorse.  
  
"Gomen..." Kia sighed. "We didn't mean-"  
  
"I'm not MAD, love!" Chuu told her in tones of amused bewilderment, patting her on the head. She cringed. "I'm just surprised you held out this long, is all."  
  
"Check on the cure," Mukuro instructed the youkai who had entered in such a state of frenzy. "If it's ready, put it in a jar and bring it here."  
  
He bowed and ran off to do her bidding, casting nervous looks at the company his mistress was currently keeping. Kelsey grinned saucily and waggled her fingers at him.  
  
"It seems even the infamous Youko Kurama is not immune," Mukuro wryly observed, looking down at the little youkai, who had discovered a full-length mirror in the corner of the room and was now admiring his reflection in the gleaming surface.   
  
"We've only had it for a DAY!" Kelsey said, baffled. "How does he-"  
  
"It's a kid thing...I think." Kia laughed. "Yusuke and Kuwabara must have their hands full back home." She had no idea how right she was...  
  
"I've got it, Mukuro-sama!" The youkai had returned, panting hard. He carefully clutched a jelly jar filled to the brim with a bright pink that bubbled slightly.  
  
"It's...carbonated?" Kia sweatdropped. "Diet Cure? Nice."  
  
Mukuro took the jar from her servant, dismissing him with a curt, yet approving nod. She turned to Kelsey. "Drink up."  
  
Youko Kurama suddenly let out a snarl, whirling away from the mirror.  
  
Everyone stared at the bristling kitsune. "What's gone and got HIS tail all tied up in a knot?" Chuu wondered.  
  
"That'd be me, most likely. You really should pay more attention to Lassie."  
  
Kelsey and Kia tensed. They knew that voice!  
  
Sure enough, Kodoma Binetsu was standing in the doorway, sunglasses perched on the bridge of her small nose.  
  
"Can't you be civil for once and go away??" The blonde Mirror Holder snapped.  
  
"Nope!" She giggled. "I'm going to destroy that cure and you'll all die-ESPECIALLY Suzuki!"  
  
*OOC*  
  
Well, there you have it. My ankle is making this shorter than it'd usually be...*sigh* Darn it all and Stupid Orcs. Anyway, please review...NEXT chapter!  
  
* Binetsu reveals why she hates Suzuki so much  
  
* I can't believe this...Yusuke proves how incredibly inept he is at watching little kids...  
  
* And...uh...the pug will do the Time Warp for you at the end of the next chapter. O.o;;  
  
And now, our third ferrygirl, Tsubaki!  
  
Name: Tsubaki  
  
Age: 89 (died at 16)  
  
Birthday: May 4  
  
Clothing: Light purple kimono, dark purple obi, white kimono underneath  
  
Hair Color/Style: Brown, just brushes her shoulders  
  
Eye Color: Purple  
  
Height: 5'5''  
  
Weight: 110 lbs.  
  
Personality: Uncanny patience.  
  
^^ Good luck! Waiiii, Return of the King...Kia will see it tomorrow! *dances* 


	12. Binetsu Returns: Tragic Past

Oh, drat. The internet is down once more. Which really sucks, because now I cannot update my diary, talk to anyone, read stuff on ff.net...-.- Damn. I guess it DOES give me an opportunity to work some more on Densebyou, though...but still, this makes Kia VERY unhappy. *sigh* Damn it all. But...as I said, I can work on Densebyou, so...let's see now.  
  
Last chapter, Kia and Kelsey learned a bit more about their pasts...or, at least, they learned about their fathers. And Binetsu just HAD to come along and ruin the moment! Pfft.  
  
Ah, yes. Nekkyou Hiryuu (Kelsey) gets Tsubaki. -.- Trust me, she's better off with that ferrygirl. And since she's been trying so hard...well...*sigh* But, SolusLupaKouken got her first...^^;; so, to be fair, I can give her another shot at a different ferrygirl or make a custom one for her. It's really up to you, Shin-san.   
  
And to whoever reviewed...well, two questions stand out. I can't remember who asked them, and since I can't get on the Internet, I can't check. But even if Yusuke is a hanyou, he's currently in human form. Kurama only changed because he turned Youko; otherwise, he would have remained healthy as well. ^^;; And yes, I know that Suzuki is called Suzuka...but that's only in the dub. His Japanese name is Suzuki, which is what I'm going to use.  
  
Much thanks to Lexi-chan, who also helped me with the whole Binetsu thingy...^^;; I owe you a lot, don't I?  
  
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Kia stared at the little girl. "What-" She started to cough, and couldn't seem to stop. Kelsey reached over and pounded her friend on the back. The older girl winced, but the fit subsided. "Thanks...I think." She looked at Binetsu once more. "Just what is with your grudge against Suzuki? You mentioned he was your rival, but that's STILL no reason to want to KILL him!"  
  
"When he's ruined your life and broken your spirit, it's more than enough!" Binetsu suffered an abrupt change of mood. She glowered at the dark-haired Mirror Holder. "But YOU wouldn't understand."  
  
To her surprise, Kia smiled. "Try me."  
  
"Oh, come ON!" Chuu howled like a wounded dog. "We're not here to exchange life stories-"  
  
"Shut up!" Rinku whispered loudly.  
  
The child sighed. "Fine, then. Delay the inevitable end. I suppose I can honor your final request." With a frown, she began.  
  
***Memory***  
  
As children, Suzuki and Binetsu were the best of friend, and both were aspiring and promising inventors. Suzuki had befriended the little girl when others had taunted and scorned her, orphaned at an early age. It was Suzuki who had coaxed Binetsu from her shell of loneliness and despair. It was Suzuki who had her smile and laugh again after eight years of pain and sorrow. And it was Suzuki who taught Binetsu to value herself as a person.  
  
From the moment they met, the children were inseparable. You rarely saw one without the other, and they complemented each other nicely. When Binetsu was struggling with an experiment, Suzuki would offer some advice that often benefited her greatly. If Suzuki was missing a crucial part needed to complete a machine or a potion, the girl usually had it in her generous stock of supplies. Even as rivals, it seemed that the two would always be together.  
  
Relationships change, however. Gradually, as they grew older, Binetsu began to notice Suzuki in a new light--not as her enthusiastic childhood friend, but as a handsome young man, still engrossed in his inventions and starting to show interest in the martial arts...and mirrors.  
  
Binetsu wasn't sure what these strange new feelings were, but she was always one to act upon her feelings. This should be no different...right? So she tried flirting with Suzuki. It was no use. In fact, it was like putting the moves on a brick wall-only the wall probably would have been more responsive. Suzuki was so buried in his work that he didn't even seem to know Binetsu was there...in the same room. It was if she were invisible.  
  
Finally, things came to a breaking point. It started off innocently enough. At that point in time, Suzuki was nineteen, and Binetsu was eighteen and starting to attract attention from the other village lads. She paid them no mind-she only had eyes for Suzuki. If only he would NOTICE her!  
  
Since both were inventors, they'd always engaged in friendly competition. While this whole love mess was going on, they were both working on very important projects. Binetsu's mind, however, was not on her work. She hadn't yet told Suzuki of her strong feelings for him, and it was disrupting her concentration. After much deliberation, she decided to tell him. Almost immediately, she felt an incredible sense of relief.   
  
"I'm going to tell him...he'll have to notice me NOW!" She ran swiftly out of her workshop and raced through the small clump of trees all the way to Suzuki's workshop-basically, a cellar.  
  
"Suzuki!!" Binetsu yelled cheerfully, flinging the door open and leaping down the wooden stairs like a drunken gazelle. If only she had remembered that Suzuki's temper was very short nowadays...it could have spared them both a lot of heartache. "I have something to tell y-whooooa!" Her foot skidded on the last step, and the hapless girl went flying, hitting the table that Suzuki's almost-completed project rested on, and sliding off slowly, taking the project with her.  
  
The blonde man stood there and stared at the brunette, who was now wearing a metal funnel on her head, perched at a jaunty angle. The same funnel that used to belong to the project...which now lay in pieces on the floor.  
  
"Heh...heh..." Binetsu smiled guiltily. "Oops."  
  
"Get out." Suzuki's handsome face was suddenly twisted with rage. (A/N: Hit the deck! Hurricane Suzuki is about to...uh...blow! Or...is that a volcano...-.- never mind.)  
  
She blinked again, hoping she had heard him incorrectly. "Nani?"  
  
"Get out," he repeated, voice icy. And then he exploded. (A/N: Okay, maybe it IS like a volcano...o.o) "How DARE you ruin my invention?! My WORK! I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THAT THING FOR THREE YEARS, AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE...the GALL to DESTROY IT?! YOU IRRESPONSIBLE WENCH! TRYING TO SPY ON MY PROJECT, WEREN'T YOU?! LEAVE. I never want to see your UGLY face again."  
  
Well, anyone who was female, or knew ANYTHING about females also knew that it was disastrous to call a girl "ugly"...especially to her face.   
  
"You...you can't mean that!" Binetsu whispered, stunned. "Suzuki-"  
  
"GET OUT! I mean every word. Stop getting in my way." The inventor reached down and yanked Binetsu upright.  
  
The girl stared at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "Onegai...Suzuki, I love-"  
  
With a snort of impatience, Suzuki grasped her collar and practically hurled her out of his workshop. The door slammed shut behind her.  
  
Sick at heart, Binetsu slowly returned to her own workshop, where she collapsed on the floor and cried until the tears had left her shaking body. It hurt. It hurt a lot, and she hated the pain; hated herself for being so weak as to be blinded by emotions...and she hated Suzuki most of all.  
  
Standing up, the inventor approached her workstation, lifting up a bottle of purple liquid. "When you get older, bad things happen to you," she said aloud. "So I'm going back to childhood and STAYING that way!" With a shudder, she removed the cork and drank the contents of that fateful bottle.  
  
At the physical age of eight, Kodoma Binetsu left home, left Suzuki, and left her only happiness behind. Finding a dark hideout in some remote area in Makai, she worked relentlessly on inventions, becoming hopelessly embittered. She remained unaware that Suzuki searched for her, calling her name plaintively, realizing that he had driven her away. At last, he gave up and went away...and they never saw each other again.  
  
Binetsu lived alone, except for her assistant, and as the years dragged on and she remained physically unchanging, her anger and resentment grew until it had wholly consumed her. She only desired two things now: power, and revenge on Suzuki. And when she heard that the now-grown Suzuki had joined up with the young Mirror Holders, she saw the perfect opportunity to strike. She'd created a disease before, but Suzuki hadn't caught it. Binetsu rather thought it was marvelous--how fun to regress someone in years to the point where they became vulnerable enough to die, unable to fight the disease any longer. A woman named Ashita, however, had concocted a cure and given it to Mukuro, one of the three demon lords of Makai. Thus the disease was effectively abated.  
  
Eventually, Binetsu found the original recipe and recreated the disease, with no time to spare: The girls were growing in power, and Suzuki was happy...he didn't deserve happiness. Not after what he had done to her. To her joy, Suzuki was not spared this time. The Mirror Holders gave her a bit of a challenge, but now they had fallen ill too. Destroying the cure would also destroy Suzuki and the girls, which would in turn grant her two wishes. And that was that.  
  
***End Memory***  
  
***At Suzuki's House***  
  
"This sucks." Yusuke summed up the situation very neatly. "Everyone's sick, those little brats are running wild, Keiko's visiting her relatives, and I'm stuck here with YOU!"  
  
Kuwabara scowled, casting about for a retort. "I don't want to be here any more than you do, Urameshi, so shut up."  
  
"Make me!" The other challenged. "You know you can't, since your big sis isn't here to save your hide this time!"  
  
Within moments, Yusuke and Kuwabara were wrestling on the floor, punching each other and howling insults. Kage sat quietly, watching them one ear upraised. -...Humans are so strange.-  
  
"Repeat that, dog!" Kuwabara snarled.  
  
The canine sighed. -This is not the time to be fighting. In case you haven't noticed, your friends are starting to enter the last stage of the disease.-  
  
Yusuke halted his fist about two inches from Kuwabara's face, looking over at Kage. "...Last stage?"  
  
-They will slowly lose all strength and energy and die once they reach the age of two. Like Shishiwakamaru, for instance. Or Suzuki.-  
  
"No kidding?" Kuwabara frowned. "Y'know, I THOUGHT those two were kinda quiet..." He sweatdropped as little Rei raced by, chasing Touya with Axe and giggling somewhat insanely. "Now, if only the rest of them would shut up..."  
  
-That, dear boy, is what we call wishful thinking.- Kage waved his tail slowly.  
  
"Shimatta." Yusuke stood up and then looked at Hiei, who was slowly walking over to the Tantei with a strange expression lurking in those crimson eyes of his. "...What is it, short stuff? Need a diaper change?"  
  
The miniature Jaganshi's eyes narrowed, and he began to glow.   
  
Anyone in the neighborhood could hear Yusuke Urameshi's loud scream of horror.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"  
  
  
  
***Back to Makai***  
  
"...Hey, did you hear something?" Kelsey poked Kia. "A scream?"  
  
"Ummm...I don't know..." the other answered uncertainly. She was starting to feel uneasy...WHY had she left Yusuke and Kuwabara in charge of a bunch of little children?? And who would survive? But that wasn't important right now...if she didn't come up with something, and fast, Binetsu would destroy the cure.  
  
Speaking of which, the child had finished her story and was now studying the Mirror Holders with narrowed blue and brown eyes. "So you see, I can't let you live," she concluded. "Or Suzuki. I don't really care about the others...they can live or die, for all I care." She shrugged carelessly. "It's the circle of life."  
  
"So..." Kia was still trying to puzzle this out. "Let me get this straight. You and Suzuki used to be friends."  
  
"Hai."  
  
"And...you got a crush on him..."  
  
"Hai."  
  
"But he yelled at you, you ran away, and this whole thing is about getting revenge on him."  
  
"Hai."  
  
"Oh." The girl rolled her eyes. "Okay. Just wanted to make sure there was a VALID reason for doing this."  
  
"You DO know you'd have to die eventually," Binetsu pointed out. "After all, when you're a Mirror Holder, your life is constantly in danger, isn't it?"  
  
The girls looked at each other. That was true enough.  
  
"So I'm letting you die young...younger." The girl giggled. "You should be THANKING me."  
  
"No," Kelsey growled, "I should be blackening your eyes, bloodying your nose, breaking some bones-"  
  
"We get the point," Chuu interrupted her, sweatdropping.  
  
"As colorful as it was," Mukuro added, before she turned to Binetsu. "I hope you understand that if you try to harm these girls or destroy the cure, I will kill you."  
  
"I understand you'll TRY, Mukuro-sama," the other replied politely. "But it should be a good fight all the same."  
  
"Damn!" The blonde Mirror Holder muttered.  
  
Kia nodded sympathetically. "I know, Kelsey. Once we're cured, you can beat her up..."  
  
Rinku snorted. "If there's anything left of her once Mukuro's finished."  
  
The girl grimaced. He had a point...Binetsu would probably be killed, as the demon lord had promised. But...she felt sorry for the inventor, and didn't quite know why.  
  
"So that's it, then." Binetsu got into a fighting stance, eyes fixed on the vial of liquid. "I'm getting that cure...and none of you are going to stop me!"  
  
*OOC*  
  
There you go...chapter 12. I want to POST IT BUT THE BAKA INTERNET HATES ME!! Grrr... so I shall work on chapter 13, and probably do the author note for that one later. Only five more chapters left! ^^;; Please review! NEXT chapter!  
  
* Binetsu launches an all-out attack! Eep...  
  
* Chuu and Rinku get into it, windows blow up, MUKURO ends up fighting...Youko Kurama mourns the loss of the mirror. Tragic, really...  
  
* The outcome of the battle...and...well...there's good news...and there's...bad news...  
  
And, as I promised, here's the pug...doing the Time Warp!  
  
Pug: snort? *tilts head*  
  
Kia: *sweatdrops* Wait, don't you know the Time Warp? *Pug shakes head* Oh, goody...well, it's just a jump to the left...  
  
Pug: Snort...*stares oddly at Kia*  
  
Kia: Uh-HUH...okay, time for something different. I know! You can be Kirby!  
  
Pug: snort snort snort *wheeze*??  
  
Kia: Y'know, the little pink thing that eats his enemies or something...it's like Pac Man...only pink.  
  
Pug: ...  
  
Kia: Now, let's see...who do we hate...oh! Tarukane!  
  
Tarukane: *appears* (I LOVE author-y powers! ^^) What the-?!  
  
Kia: Can you do the Time Warp?  
  
Tarukane: Can you pay me?  
  
Kia: ...Sure, why not.  
  
Tarukane: *does the Time Warp*  
  
Pug: *inhales Tarukane*  
  
Kia: Well...?  
  
Pug: *does the Time Warp*  
  
Kia: Victory! *starts doing the Time Warp with the Pug* ...And then a step to the riiiiiiight...  
  
^^;;  
  
And now, here's our fourth ferrygirl, Fuji!  
  
Name: Fuji  
  
Age: 42 (died at age 14)  
  
Birthday: April 18  
  
Clothing: Green kimono, white obi, yellow kimono underneath.  
  
Hair Color/Style: Black; wears it in a neat bun.  
  
Eye Color: Green  
  
Height: 5'2''  
  
Weight: 108 lbs.  
  
Personality: Quiet...unless you mess up her hair. O.o  
  
^^ Good luck! And yes, Mizu, the ferrygirls are underweight...death tends to do that to you. ^^;; Fatten 'em up, people! Just a note, the clothes and looks sometimes have NOTHING to do with the plant name. x.x 


	13. Catastrophic Events

Aori tsuki gets Fuji, whose name means "Wisteria"! Congratulations, Mizu-chan!   
  
I just realized...how hard it was to make Binetsu TRULY evil. Unlike Netami, there HAD to be a reason for Binetsu going over to the Dark Side. (o.o Okay, toooo much Star Wars there...) In fact, I feel sorry for the bad guy of this story...for once. I'll just have to make the bad guy in Kikyoku EEEEVIL. That shouldn't be too hard, ne?  
  
Okay, last chapter, we learned why Binetsu became evil. And now she's ready and willing to destroy the cure for revenge purposes or something...my apologies if this is a short chapter...I'm not very good at battle scenes. Stupid orcs are blocking my inspiration. STUPID ORCS. STUPID DENETHOR. O.o whoa, wait, how did Denethor end up in there?  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Binetsu," Kia said, in a very reasonable tone...or so she hoped. "Please, think about this. Can't you just forgive Suzuki? I'm pretty sure he's sorry..."  
  
"Really now." The child stared at her, obviously not believing a word of it. "Tell me, did he ever mention me at ALL?"  
  
Taken by surprise, the girl hesitated. "Ah..."  
  
"No. He didn't." Binetsu began to glow purple, her aura tinged with black. "He doesn't DESERVE forgiveness!" She raised her right arm and pointed at the Mirror Holders.   
  
"Get down!" Chuu practically knocked the girls off the bed, as a bolt of violet lightning struck the mattress, disintegrating it in mere seconds.  
  
Kia found herself facedown on the carpet, pressed firmly there by Chuu's arm. "Mmprh..."  
  
"Gomen." He obligingly lifted the restraint so that the brunette could breathe.  
  
"Duck for cover!!" Kelsey yelped, diving under what was left of the charred bed...which then decided to collapse on top of her in a smoky heap. Whoever said inanimate objects weren't spiteful?  
  
The muscular drunkard and the other Mirror Holder stared, before Kia crawled over to the mess and tried lifting up large and splintery pieces of what had once been a bed. "Damn it all, astringent pomite fruit, and all that's good and holy!" She panted, not liking this sickness at all. It drained her even to pick up a broken BOARD!  
  
"Very colorful." Two pale and slender, but strong hands grasped the headboard and pulled it off, flinging it away with a careless motion. Kia blinked, and looked up.  
  
Mukuro knelt beside her, the right side of her face covered in rags once more. She turned to the smaller girl. "Save your strength, Hiketsu's reincarnation. I'll get her out." Before Kia could ask how she had known that, she cast her gaze about the room. It settled on Rinku. "You!" She barked, like a stern general. The simile wasn't that far off. "Guard them!"  
  
Surprised, the boy pointed to himself. "ME??"  
  
"YES, you!"  
  
Rinku cringed when another bolt shattered the window, glass hitting the carpet in a sharp and deadly shower. "But-"  
  
"The lady an' I can handle it," Chuu assured him, standing up and ambling towards Binetsu, cracking his knuckles as he went. "You just watch the girls..."  
  
Mukuro finally succeeded in drawing Kelsey out from the bottom of the pile, slightly blackened from her brief stay in there. "Stay down," she advised. "This won't take long."  
  
In silence, both girls watched as the demon lord rose, suddenly looking very forbidding...and very dangerous.  
  
"I warned you that if you attempted to harm the Mirror Holders or destroy the cure, you would die," she said quietly, looking down at Binetsu. "It's time to make good on that."  
  
"Hey," Kelsey suddenly whispered. "Doesn't Mukuro have the cure? She could've just given it to us..."  
  
"Which would have given Binetsu a better reason to kill us," Kia pointed out. "The cure is probably the first thing on her mind right now. So, if she destroys it, we won't have much of a chance. She'll probably go after Mukuro first."  
  
Sure enough, Binetsu launched an all-out attack on the powerful youkai Kelsey had dubbed "the boss lady". Mukuro merely deflected the bolts with her fists, charged with her own energy, and then struck back at the child, with a face like stone.  
  
Rinku scooted over to the girls, his faithful yo-yos at the ready. "Don't worry, I'll protect you." Now if only he looked as confident as he sounded...  
  
All three winced when Binetsu flung Chuu into a wall, merely by grasping his arms, and flipping him over her head as he charged her. The impact made a very impressive dent.   
  
"...Ouch," Kelsey remarked, sneezing.   
  
They heard a frantic pounding at the door. "Mukuro-sama? MUKURO-SAMA! IS EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT IN THERE?!"  
  
"Oh, for..." The girl heaved a sigh of absolute disgust. "Your boss lady's fighting an evil brat who wants to kill us all!" She yelled in reply. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK?!"  
  
"I think that you are-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHH, NOOOOOOOOOO!!"  
  
"...What was THAT?" Kia turned her head to look at the closed door, cupping her hands over her ears to spare them any further damage. Mukuro, Binetsu, and Chuu, engrossed in their fight, seemed not to notice.   
  
"Prune juice took effect?" Kelsey quipped. Both Rinku and Kia looked at her, and she shrugged. "Okay, I'll shut up now..."  
  
"No..." Rinku whispered, bright eyes filled with trepidation. "Something..."   
  
He was rudely interrupted when the door fell forward, free of its hinges, and hit the ground with a resounding crash. A booted foot placed itself on the fallen wood, then another, and a brown-haired man leapt lightly into the room.  
  
"Who's that?" Both girls said at once. NOW what? Was he working for Mukuro or Binetsu?  
  
That was answered rather promptly, as the man, spotting the three fighters, yelled, "Kodoma-sama!" and tackled Chuu.  
  
"Boku!" The little girl cried out, evidently shocked. "What are YOU doing here! I told you to stay-"  
  
"I know, Kodoma-sama, but I couldn't leave you to deal with these nasty people all by yourself!" He got to his feet.  
  
Kelsey bristled. "NASTY? I'll show you NASTY!" She lunged at this "Boku" character, but Kia grabbed her arm, yanking her back.   
  
"Kelsey, don't! We don't know what kind of powers he has-"  
  
"We can take him! Let me go!"  
  
"Stop being stubborn! You're going to get yourself killed!"  
  
"Oh, YOU'RE one to talk!"   
  
"Your friend has good reason to be cautious, little one," the man chuckled. His voice had deepened, and he held his left hand up, clutching something that neither girl could see. And then he released it.  
  
A sudden, silent explosion smacked into the Mirror Holders and Rinku. The youkai boy hit the mirror, shattering it. Youko Kurama let out a mournful wail at its destruction. Kelsey smacked into the same wall that Chuu had previously hit, and fell to the floor. And Kia flew out the now-open window.  
  
"SHIMATTA!" Chuu pushed past Boku and raced for the window, hoping against hope that the girl had somehow survived.  
  
"Oh, no, you don't!" Binetsu's lapdog jumped him, and the two went down in a yelling tangle of muscled arms and legs.   
  
Rinku sat up, shaking shards of glass out of his brown hair and plunking his cap back on his head before hurrying over to Kelsey. He shook her shoulder. "Kelsey! Are you okay?"  
  
The girl groaned. "I've had better days." Suddenly, her gray eyes went wide, and she sat up quickly. "Kia! Where-"  
  
The boy silently pointed to the window.  
  
"No..." Kelsey whispered, hardly daring to breathe. "She can't be...I won't believe it!"  
  
"Well, that's one Mirror Holder down," Binetsu said, with a smile of immense satisfaction. "I can pull the Half out of her broken body later."  
  
"You've forgotten that you won't be ALIVE long enough to accomplish anything!" Mukuro was definitely angry now.  
  
"Kia..." The blonde, still stricken with horror, stared numbly at the empty window. And then, she blinked.  
  
A slender hand clutched at the sill, knuckles white.   
  
Rinku and Kelsey rushed to the window, peering over...and met the frightened brown eyes of a certain cookie-sheet wielding Mirror Holder.  
  
"You're alive!" Kelsey yelled happily. "You baka, how the hell did you survive?"  
  
"I held on," Kia said wryly. "I held on for dear life. But my arm hurts...so can SOMEONE PLEASE PULL ME UP??" It seemed that she'd flipped as she'd gone through the window, and had managed to catch hold of the sill before she plunged to her death. Lucky girl.  
  
Rinku smiled, very relieved. "Take my hand..." He leaned down, and Kia reached up with her other hand and a bit of effort. Kelsey grasped her other hand, and between the two, they were able to pull her up and back into the room, where they all collapsed, panting.  
  
Mukuro, Binetsu, Boku, and Chuu were all staring at them, and Youko Kurama scurried over to give Kia a hug, having mourned the departure of the mirror by then.  
  
"Just how lucky ARE YOU??" The child inventor asked disbelievingly.  
  
Mukuro was chuckling. "Lucky enough. Luck and a bit of determination, I'd say."  
  
"I'm glad she's alive and all, but can we get back to the fight?" Chuu didn't wait for an answer and returned to punching Boku with a gleeful grin. He obviously enjoyed a good fight...or a chance to break some legs.  
  
"My, my...you certainly do have your excitement, don't you?" Kyattsuai stood on the door, golden eyes surveying the chaos with an air of calm. "And I thought getting past a bunch of guards with broken legs was entertaining enough."  
  
"Here comes the cavalry," Kelsey muttered. "A bit late, but still..."  
  
The neko youkai grinned and flipped off the door and into the room, neatly kicking Binetsu away from Mukuro. And the fight raged on. Kyattsuai's fighting skills were impressive; he seemed to have a strong grasp of the martial arts and punched, kicked, flipped, and basically caused a lot of damage to the other side. And Mukuro showed why she was one of the three demon lords of Makai...her energy and control of her powers was incredible.  
  
"Are we winning?" Kia asked, retreating behind the other, still-whole bed with Youko Kurama, Rinku, and Kelsey.  
  
Her friend shrugged. "I hope so."  
  
"Kelsey!" Mukuro suddenly called out. Blinking, the girl peered over the edge of the bed. The woman was holding up the jar containing the cure. Binetsu was busy fending off Kyattsuai, and Chuu was wrestling with Boku. "Catch!" And she lobbed the glass container across the room.  
  
Kelsey scrambled to her feet, reaching up to catch it, while Kia, Rinku, and Kurama watched with bated breath.  
  
At that moment, Binetsu looked up, ducking under the cat demon's kick. Her eyes locked on the soaring object, and she let out a shrill scream of fury, gesturing.  
  
What happened next seemed to be in slow motion. A thin streak of amethyst lightning hit the jar...it shattered...and the liquid sprayed everywhere, drenching the Mirror Holders, Youko Kurama, Rinku, Chuu, Boku, Binetsu, Kyattsuai, and Mukuro. Upon contact with whatever it touched, it disappeared, having sunk into it.  
  
For a very long moment, all nine of them merely stood and stared at each other. Then, Binetsu started to laugh. "It's gone! IT'S GONE! Now no one will survive!" She glanced at the girls. "Well, except for you two and Kurama, but I'll be killing you anyway, so it doesn't really matter."  
  
Neither girl replied. They couldn't. Kia felt as if her insides had turned into ice. She couldn't feel anything...nothing. Not shock, not anger, not despair, just...nothing.  
  
The cure had been entirely destroyed. All of it. And now all of their friends in the Ningenkai were doomed.  
  
*OOC*  
  
o.o That's just sad...and horrible...poor Mirror Holders. Just when it seemed that there was hope, the cure was destroyed. *sniffle* I'm so mean to them...Anyway...please review. Next chapter...  
  
* Kelsey completely loses it! Can Kia prevent her from killing Binetsu? SHOULD Kia prevent her from killing Binetsu?  
  
* Binetsu isn't satisfied yet...now she only has to kill the Mirror Holders...uh-oh...  
  
* Betrayal abounds! What will happen now? And just how much more can the girls take?   
  
And now, our fifth ferrygirl, Chuurippu! (Rippu, for short, her name's somewhat easy...)  
  
Name: Chuurippu  
  
Age: 154 (died at age 13)  
  
Birthday: February 13  
  
Clothing: Bright blue kimono, yellow obi, pink kimono underneath  
  
Hair Color/Style: Long and pale pink, wears it in two high pigtails.  
  
Eye Color: Bright blue  
  
Height: 4'9 1/2''  
  
Weight: 102 lbs.  
  
Personality: Hyperactive.   
  
^^ Good luck with this one... 


	14. Cured: All Hope Lost

Chuurippu goes to Mai-Ly! That's right, Mai-chan, her name means "tulip"...see, it's like engrish...tulip...churippu...*sweatdrops* Okay, I'll stop now. A lot of people guessed right, but she got it first. ^^ Not to worry, starting this chapter, I'm DOUBLING the ferrygirls! More chances to get one.  
  
Okay, I know you're all sort of pissed at Binetsu right now for blowing up the cure, and the Mirror Holders are in shock, but we will now learn why it is not wise to piss Kelsey off...just ask Shishi's fan-girls. Oh, wait, you can't. o.o She killed them all. Well, actually, she just beat 'em good, but still...does the bad luck NEVER end?  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Binetsu was still laughing. Everyone else seemed to be frozen in various poses. Kelsey was still standing, stormy eyes fixed on the broken remnants of the glass jar...and their last hope, littered on the floor. Kyattsuai and Chuu were looking at each other uncertainly, not quite sure how to react. Mukuro finally moved, taking a step closer to Kia, who knelt on the floor, along with Rinku and Youko Kurama. Boku looked very pleased.   
  
Suddenly, Kelsey uttered something akin to a feral snarl and lunged at Binetsu, knocking the little girl down and aiming fierce punches at her face.  
  
"Kelsey, NO!" Kia sprang up and ran over, trying to pull her enraged friend off of the stunned inventor. "Yamete!!" (Stop it!)  
  
The eyes that Kelsey turned on her made the girl draw in a sharp breath. Her usually-lively gray eyes were cold and hard, like granite, and just as unfeeling.  
  
"Don't try to stop me, Kia." Her voice mirrored her expression exactly. "I'm going to kill her." She raised her fist again.  
  
Kia had never seen her comrade so angry, even angrier than the time that Shishiwakamaru's fan-girls stormed the house, but she couldn't...  
  
"Look, I know how you feel, but killing her isn't going to solve anything!" Well, it'd stop her from attempting to kill them, but...she didn't feel like pointing that out just now. Her tugging increased, but it was no use. Kelsey in her state of adrenaline was too strong for Kia in her weakened condition.   
  
"Here, allow me." Chuu regained his momentum, strode over, and easily plucked the struggling Mirror Holder off of her victim.   
  
"That Mirror Half of Compassion..." Rinku mused to Kia, who blinked at him. "No wonder you were chosen to carry it."  
  
Mukuro looked sharply at Boku. "Tell me, BOKU, why you did not aid your mistress just now..."  
  
He chuckled. "First off, my whole name is Chuuboku. Boku is just a nickname."  
  
There had to be a meaning in that, Kia realized. Something important. But what did his name MEAN? Wracking her brain for an answer, she finally found it.  
  
"Chuuboku means 'faithful servant'..."  
  
Kelsey stopped fighting Chuu to look at her dark-haired friend. Kia had a funny look on her face...a mixture of surprise and anger.  
  
"But who were you a faithful servant TO?" The girl continued, glaring at Boku.   
  
"It'd be Binetsu, wouldn't it?" Kyattsuai, bewildered, couldn't see where this was going.  
  
"I don't think so." Kelsey thought she understood what Kia was getting at. "The Mirror Halves reveal truths...it just takes us awhile to fully understand them."  
  
"Answer the lady's question," Chuu ordered the mousy-haired man, lowering Kelsey to the ground. "Whose 'faithful servant' ARE you?"  
  
Boku was still very much amused. "Netami, of course."  
  
Kelsey made an exasperated noise. "Not again...for the last time, she's DEAD!"  
  
"Perhaps..." He smirked. "Then again, perhaps not."  
  
"But why work for Binetsu, then?" Rinku asked, confused.  
  
"That's simple enough. Binetsu already resented Suzuki...I just had to fuel the embers of her anger until it grew into a roaring fire...and then I sent all of that negative energy to my REAL mistress, giving her the power she needed. Also, the brat had the necessary means to take out the Mirror Holders. I encouraged her, ASSURED her that revenge upon Suzuki would include the deaths of the two wielders of the Densetsu no Kagami. Little did she suspect that once they were dead, I would kill her and take the Halves to Netami-sama."  
  
Boku glanced down at Binetsu, who was looking at him, silently shaking her head in mute denial. "But, even though she destroyed the cure, they were soaked in it. I'll just have to kill them my-" He stopped talking, tilting his head to listen for something. Then he sighed. "...As you wish."  
  
Mukuro raised an eyebrow. "As who wishes?"  
  
"I must return," the man announced grandly. "But not to worry-the Mirror Holders' nightmares will soon manifest themselves." He threw down another handful of invisible substance. This took the form of thick white smoke that crept into all corners of the room and spread out. Everyone started choking and coughing, eyes watering.  
  
Kia, however, knew how to handle this type of thing. Cool breezes rushed in from the open window, fanning and swirling the smoke away so that her comrades could see and breathe again.  
  
"He used it to get away!" Kyattsuai cried, between coughs.  
  
"He won't get far," Mukuro replied, smiling grimly.  
  
No sooner had she spoken then a voice called out from just outside the room. "Mukuro-sama! We've killed the intruder!"  
  
"Excellent work," the demon lord responded, tone pleased. "Dispose of his body immediately."  
  
"Hai!" Shuffling footsteps and a dragging thud told those listening that Mukuro's "request" was being honored.  
  
"So Binetsu was being USED?" Rinku spoke up.  
  
"Looks like it." Kia looked down at Youko Kurama, who had fallen asleep on the floor, and then over at Binetsu.  
  
The little inventor got to her feet, staring at her palms. "It was all a trick...a lie..." She whispered, more than to herself than to anyone else in the room. "A plot to get the Densetsu no Kagami..." A bitter chuckle emerged from her mouth. "But Suzuki WILL die, and I'll kill the Mirror Holders...I deserve it, not anyone else!"  
  
Kia shook her head. "You're depleted on your energy," she said softly. "You'll kill yourself trying...and I don't think you really want the Densetsu no Kagami, Binetsu."  
  
"You lie!" The smaller girl rasped. "Of course I do!"  
  
"I'm not lying. You loved Suzuki, didn't you? All you ever wanted was for him to be happy! But he yelled at you...and it hurt, didn't it?"  
  
Binetsu looked at her fearfully. She didn't want to see sympathy in those eyes...she didn't want compassion! "S...stop it..."  
  
The girl didn't stop. "Suzuki was UNUSED to love! Machines can't love, potions can't love, and he became so fascinated with them that he...he thought HE couldn't love either! And I know it hurt, Binetsu, but wanting revenge...it won't help! I think you still love him, no matter what you-"  
  
"STOP IT!" Binetsu had a dangerous, almost maniacal gleam in her eyes now. "I HATE Suzuki and I HATE ALL OF YOU! I DON'T WANT YOUR GODDAMNED COMPASSION, MIRROR HOLDER!" She started to glow again, only this time the inky blackness completely blotted out her violet aura. Her lips parted as she swayed slightly. "Die..." She breathed.  
  
"You don't have enough energy!" Kia cried. "You're burning your life away!"  
  
"Give it up, love." Chuu placed both big hands on the girl's shoulders, firmly guiding her back to the others and away from Binetsu. "For all your compassion, she's too far gone for you to save now."  
  
"Her desire for revenge will lead to her own self-destruction." Mukuro stepped in front of the Mirror Holders. "But I will not let it include your destruction as well."  
  
"You tried, Kia," Kelsey told her companion. "That's all anyone could ask for."  
  
"DIE!" Binetsu repeated in a shriek, releasing a mass of dark flames from her palms. Mukuro raised her own hands, her energy leaping forth to counter the attack. The two powers met halfway and exploded upon contact. The girls and Rinku flinched, covering their eyes. Youko Kurama slept through it.  
  
Kia looked up just in time to see Binetsu fall, tears running down the inventor's face. She'd poured her own life into her final attack, and had paid the ultimate price.  
  
Kelsey glanced over at the brunette as she slowly walked past Mukuro to kneel by the fallen child, head bowed.  
  
"Did you ever dream that revenge would eventually take your own life?" The Mirror Holder asked her, voice breaking slightly.  
  
She would never answer.  
  
With a sigh, the girl turned. "Kelsey, can I cry now?"  
  
The blonde shook her head. "No. Not yet."  
  
"To bed, Mirror Holders." Mukuro approached Kia, extending her hand and assisting the girl in standing. "You can return home tomorrow."  
  
"Two days left, then..." Kelsey closed her eyes, looking pained. "We'll be watching them die..."  
  
Kia was grateful for the weariness seeping throughout her body...it numbed the pain, making it almost bearable. And then sleep claimed her entirely.  
  
  
  
***A good deal of time later...***  
  
Someone kept shaking her shoulder insistently. "Kia...Kia..."  
  
The girl muttered crossly, not wanting to wake up just yet. But the light, male voice wouldn't go away.  
  
"Kia!"  
  
"WHAT!" She yelled finally, exasperated. She opened her eyes, stared into a pair of vivid emerald oculars, and screamed, leaning back too far and falling off the bed.  
  
Kurama looked over the edge of the bed, smiling down at the bemused Mirror Holder sitting on the floor. "My apologies for scaring you..."  
  
"You...you..." Kia stared at him with big brown eyes. "You're big again! And your ears are gone!"  
  
It was true. As the redhead reached down to pull her up, she noticed that he was back to his usual age of seventeen. No longer did he sport fox ears and a tail, he was wearing his school uniform, and she suspected that breaking a mirror now wouldn't affect him too greatly.  
  
"...Where's Kelsey?" The dark-haired girl asked, looking around quizzically. They were alone. Binetsu's body was gone, and Chuu, Rinku, Mukuro, Kelsey, and Kyattsuai were nowhere to be seen.  
  
"Breakfast," Kurama answered. "They sent me in to wake you." His smile faded as he looked at her intently. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I will be, eventually..." Kia heaved a shuddery sigh. "It's just...Kelsey's forbidden me from crying, and everyone back home...Jin, Touya, Hiei, Rei...they'll all be..."   
  
"You did your best...both of you tried your hardest." The Youko patted her shoulder sympathetically. "I'm truly sorry..."  
  
"Kurama?"  
  
"Hai?"  
  
Kia looked at him. "Can I have a hug?"  
  
Kurama smiled and held out his arms. Kia inched closer, and he wrapped his arms around her, giving the distraught Mirror Holder the comfort she so desperately needed just then.   
  
Finally, he rose, offering his hand to her. She took it, and they went down to see the others.  
  
*OOC*  
  
No, for the last time, there is absolutely nothing between Kia and Kurama...the most you could say is that they have a brother/sister relationship going on...-.-  
  
Well, it could just be me, but I feel a little sorry for Binetsu...please review! Next chapter!  
  
* Kia, Kurama, Chuu, Rinku and Kelsey hitch a ride home with an old friend...an old DRACONIC friend...  
  
* What greets these weary travelers when they arrive home at last? Hugs? Smiles? Kuwabara dangling from the ceiling? O.o Uh...  
  
* On the way home, guess what the Mirror Holders find in Kurama's wallet? Pictures...pictures of his girlfriend...will they FINALLY learn more about this mysterious person?  
  
* Kelsey finally gives Kia permission to cry...bring tissue. -.-  
  
And, like I promised, here are the sixth and seventh ferrygirls, as I only have THREE MORE CHAPTERS LEFT!  
  
Name: Kinpouge  
  
Age: 193 (died at age 18)  
  
Birthday: June 7  
  
Clothing: Red kimono, yellow obi, white kimono underneath  
  
Hair Color/Style: Pale blonde, ends just below her ears  
  
Eye Color: Light green  
  
Height: 5'8''  
  
Weight: 123 lbs.  
  
Personality: Poetic (maybe sometimes a little TOO poetic...o.o)  
  
Name: Ran  
  
Age: 321 (died at age 16)  
  
Clothing: Pale yellow kimono, blue bow, purple kimono underneath  
  
Hair Color/Style: Pale purple, reaches past her waist, sometimes braids it  
  
Eye Color: Gray  
  
Height: 5'7''  
  
Weight: 117 lbs.  
  
Personality: Concerned (if ever she gets to the point of paranoia, threaten to take away her oar. ^^)  
  
There you go! Have fun! I know I'm updating faster now, but I still don't think I'll finish by Christmas...*sigh* 


	15. Returning Home

Congratulations to Rein, who got Kinpouge (buttercup) and SolusLupaKouken, who got Ran (orchid!) ^^ Thanks and I'm glad you didn't give up, Shin-san. Enjoy.   
  
Unfortunately, this will be the last chapter I'll be able to get up before I visit San Diego. I probably won't post again until next Saturday, so you'll just have to wait. I'm sorry, but hopefully the last two chapters of Densebyou will be worth waiting for. -.- I can't believe I'm almost done with it...this has to be the fastest I've EVER written a Densetsu no Kagami story...o.o How strange.   
  
So kindly bear with me! ^^ I'll probably finish writing the chapters in the car, and I've already written the first three chapters of Kikyoku, so we'll see. Everyone, have a Merry Christmas...Happy Hannukah...Happy Kwanzaa...and whatever else you celebrate.   
  
Last chapter, Binetsu totally lost it and tried to kill the Mirror Holders. Mukuro blocked the attack, and now Binetsu's dead, after being betrayed by someone who actually worked for Netami. *sniffle* Poor Binetsu...and now...the girls, along with Chuu and Rinku (who agree to return to Ningenkai) and Kurama are headed home!   
  
^^ I do not own any references to Chitsuko Ichihara. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, GO READ THE KOKITSUNE SERIES BY HANYOU LOTHUIAL BEFORE I...uh...ummm...yeah.  
  
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It was still rather early when the Mirror Holders, Kurama, Chuu, and Rinku set off for Ningenkai. The fore-mentioned three were outfitted in new clothes, thanks to Mukuro's insistence. Rinku and Chuu had politely refused, but the girls and Kurama had gratefully accepted. So now Kia wore a short sleeveless dark purple tunic with silver trim over a long-sleeved white shirt and puffy white pants. A blue sash was wrapped just above her waist. Her brown hair had been carefully untangled and brushed out until it shone, and then put back into its usual high ponytail, secured by a purple rubber band.  
  
Kelsey's own blonde hair had received the same treatment and now flowed over her shoulders in a silken waterfall. She wore a bright v-neck vest with yellow trim on the sleeve cuffs over a black long-sleeved shirt and billowy pants of the same dark color.  
  
Finally, Kurama had managed to get his hair into order with only a few brush strokes, much to the girls' envy. He also sported a tunic over a white shirt and pants, but this one was burgundy, with a lighter crimson fox running along the left side. He admitted that it was very appropriate for him, considering his true nature.  
  
They'd left Kyattsuai with Mukuro. As it turned out, the demon lord had been impressed with the neko youkai's fighting skills and his litheness, and had asked him to join her army. Kia and Kelsey, after hugging him, had assured him that this was undoubtedly better than anything the Niji gang could ever offer.  
  
And then the time came for Mukuro to bid them farewell. "It's been a pleasure," she told the Mirror Holders. "I only wish we had met under better circumstances...just remember to keep that spirit and determination, and you'll go far."  
  
Kelsey and Kia exchanged a sideways glance, then grinned. Before Mukuro knew what was happening, both girls had thrown themselves at her. Kurama and Chuu smiled, watching the flustered demon lord awkwardly hug them back.  
  
But that had been three hours ago. Now the five friends were trudging across a vast, sandy expanse that suspiciously resembled a desert. A very big desert.  
  
Kelsey tilted her head back, groaning. "At this point, everyone will have DIED before we get home!"  
  
"I hate to say it, but Kelsey's right." Kia glanced up at the bright circle in the sky with a small frown. "It took us two days to get to Mukuro's...and we don't have two MORE days to spare!"  
  
"Well, what would you have us do?" Chuu asked reasonably. "We can't exactly FLY to Ningenkai-"  
  
"And why can't you?"  
  
"Because none of us have wings!" The youkai snapped...before realizing who he had just yelled at.  
  
A giant crimson dragon crouched alongside the group, serpentilian tail twitching occasionally as it studied them with narrowed golden eyes. It had either just arrived or had been following them silently.  
  
Kurama tensed, drawing a rose from his red locks. "Rose Wh-"  
  
"NO!"  
  
At Kia's emphatic tone, the Youko faltered. "...Kia?? I understand that you've seen enough death by now, but-"  
  
"He's a FRIEND!" The girl interrupted, racing past him to the creature. Without a moment's hesitation, Kelsey followed, and the dragon lowered his great head so that the girls could hug his muzzle.  
  
Chuu, Rinku, and Kurama all wore the same expression: open-mouthed surprise.  
  
"Wh...what kind of friends have our girls been making since Rinku an' I left?" Chuu asked, rubbing his stubbly chin.  
  
"Definitely some very interesting ones, I'd say," Kurama replied, with a half-smile lingering on his face. "But I would only expect that from those two."  
  
"Actually, we've known this big guy for two years!" Kelsey called back to them over the satisfied rumbling of the dragon. "He's a friend of Ashita's." (A/N: If you don't know, Ashita is the creator of the Densetsu no Kagami.)  
  
"Chuu, Kurama, Rinku, this is Tsukai." Kia looked a great deal happier than she had in days, brown eyes sparkling as she greeted her old friend. "He saved us the first time we were in Makai, looking for Ashita."  
  
"Charmed, I'm sure," Kurama said politely. Rinku cheerfully waved, and Chuu strode over to the dragon, delivering a hearty slap to his generous flank.  
  
Tsukai appeared to be startled by such affection, but then relaxed. "Ashita has heard everything that took place here," he addressed the Mirror Holders. "She is currently at work on another cure."  
  
The dark-haired healer sighed. "That's all fine and dandy, but how long did it take her LAST time?"  
  
"Four days, approximately."  
  
Kelsey caught on. "So even IF another cure is made, it'll be too late for all of our friends in Ningenkai...two days too late."  
  
Kia nodded. "On the bright side, Ashita can give the cure to Mukuro, and she can cure anyone here who caught if from Kurama and us."  
  
"Compassion acting up again?" Her friend sweetly inquired. The other grimaced, shaking her head. "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning. But seriously, Tsukai..." Kelsey turned back to the dragon. "Is that all you came to tell us?"  
  
He rumbled again, his way of expressing amusement. "Of course not. I'm here to offer you a lift...a ride back to Ningenkai. Where it would take you two days to trek across Makai, it will only take me one. Interested?"  
  
"Very," Kurama said solemnly, looking around at the others for affirmation. One by one, they all nodded.  
  
"I'm getting too old for this," Chuu mumbled, eyeing the dragon with a bit of apprehension.  
  
"No, you're not!" Rinku scoffed at the idea. "You're in your prime, and besides, you only live once."  
  
Kelsey smirked. "Or twice, in Yusuke's case." Both girls had learned how the boy had become a Reikai Tantei...by dying, and then having his incredible spirit energy discovered. As Yusuke put it, "I've been screwed ever since."  
  
Tsukai flicked his tail, opening his claws. "I can fit the Mirror Holders and Kurama in one, and the other two may ride in my other claw."  
  
"This'll be fun!" Rinku was practically bouncing as he ran into one of the claws, scrambling up and clinging on happily. Chuu was a bit more hesitant to follow, but he eventually joined his smaller companion. Kia and Kelsey, on the other hand, settled in with the ease of professionals, and Kurama couldn't help but go along, smiling at their casual air.   
  
The dragon waited until his passengers were ready, announced flight, and pumped his wings rapidly. A second later, he was soaring high over Makai, the girls peering over to observe the landscape with twin cries of delight.  
  
"It's pretty when you're not getting kidnapped, attacked, or lost in it," Kia decided. Kelsey wholeheartedly agreed.  
  
After awhile, they became bored with the scenery, and so started to pester Kurama again. The Youko responded with resigned patience...and then Kelsey found his wallet.  
  
"Heeey, pictures!" Before Kurama could stop her, the light-haired Mirror Holder was flipping through them, and stopped on one...it consisted of a slender girl with stormy blue-gray eyes, long golden hair, and a warm smile, wearing...  
  
"Nice bra," Kia commented, peering over Kelsey's shoulder.  
  
"SHAME on you, Kurama!" The other girl winked at him. "What's next, kiddy porn? What HAVE you been doing?"  
  
"I-It's a bathing suit, I SWEAR!" The Youko stammered, turning bright red.  
  
"Uh-HUH..." Obviously not convinced, Kelsey took a look at the next picture. This one was tamer, with Kurama and the same girl posing for the camera...well, actually, they seemed to have been caught offguard, as the boy's crimson hair was all mussed, and the girl had a startled cast to her features. "Nice, Kurama...she's pretty. Is THIS your girlfriend?"  
  
"Speak now, or forever be condemned," Kia told him, grinning. "You know we'll never stop bothering you about it until you tell us."  
  
Kurama sighed, knowing she spoke the truth. "...Her name is Chitsuko Ichihara..."  
  
"Does she go to our school?" Kelsey asked, taking a closer look at another picture. "She's wearing our uniform, but I don't think I've seen her around before..."  
  
"She became a Reikai Tantei in the Makai," the Youko explained. "She's not in Ningenkai anymore." His expression saddened. "I haven't seen her for about a year or so now..." (A/N: Keep in mind he's 17 now...I'm not sure if he was 15 or 16 when she left...you'd have to ask Lexi-chan.)  
  
Kia nodded sympathetically. "You must love her a lot..." When he nodded, the girl continued. "Has anyone else met her?"  
  
"Hiei, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Keiko, Botan, Shizuru, Jin, Touya-"  
  
Both girls winced. "Thanks so much for telling US, Kurama," Kelsey said wryly. "We feel so loved."  
  
Kurama winced as well. "Well, you see...I..." He trailed off, looking at the stern stares they were giving him, and smiled weakly. "I'm suddenly hungry...does anyone have any candy corn?"  
  
Kelsey burst into hysterical laughter, and couldn't stop. This gave Kia the unpleasant task of explaining exactly what was so funny to the perplexed Kurama. Unfortunately, she was giggling as well, and the boy couldn't decipher much past "conscience" and "cravings".   
  
By the time night had fallen, all five of them were asleep, the girls leaning against Kurama as Tsukai flew steadily onwards. It was past afternoon the next day when Tsukai suddenly reared back, and hurled his claws forward, releasing his sleepy passengers.   
  
"WARN US NEXT TIME!" Kelsey screamed as they flew through the air. "I'M SO TIRED OF HITTING THE DAMN-"  
  
Too late. As they had done once before, the girls and the other three males smacked into an old playground slide. Chuu and Kurama tumbled over the side, while Kia, Kelsey, and Rinku slowly slid off to plop on the cold sand.  
  
"Are we back in Ningenkai?" Rinku asked, scrambling to his feet. Kia nodded, rising as well, though at a much slower pace.  
  
"We're about a block from home. Come on!" She set off at a run, Kelsey close at her heels, and the others following.  
  
Soon enough, they had reached Suzuki's house. Kelsey opened the door, and they stepped inside. It was dark in the house, and everyone blinked.  
  
"...Hello?" Kia called uncertainly.  
  
"MMMMPPPPPPH!!!"  
  
Upon hearing that, they all looked up...and stared.   
  
Kuwabara dangled from the ceiling fan by his pants, completely bound and gagged in...aluminum foil?  
  
"K...Kuwabara??" Kelsey looked at him, stunned. "What the hell HAPPENED to you?"  
  
Kia turned as she heard a thud...and then another...coming from the hall closet. Not sure she wanted to find out what was in there, she nevertheless grasped the doorknob and turned it. It swung open...to reveal a disheveled Yusuke, his skin blackened. Overall, he had the appearance of a charred chicken. His shirt was gone, his pants had been turned into ragged shirts, and he looked at the girl dazedly.  
  
"Tell me that's you, Kia...tell me I'm not hallucinating..."  
  
"You're not." Amused, the Mirror Holder helped him out of the closet. "Are you okay??"  
  
"I will be once I get out of here." Yusuke looked up at Kuwabara. "I'm never watching them again. How'd the cure thing go?"  
  
Suddenly, no one in the room was smiling. Puzzled, Yusuke studied their faces. "Oh, Shimatta...tell me you didn't..."  
  
"The cure was destroyed," Kelsey said bitterly. "We failed, okay?"  
  
The boy sighed quietly, settling on the couch and ignoring the wriggling Kuwabara overhead. "Okay, tell me everything."  
  
***Later that Night...***  
  
  
  
Yusuke and Kuwabara (after being released) returned home. Kurama bedded down on the couch, and Chuu and Rinku took their old room. The Mirror Holders, having verified the sad state of their sickened friends, were in their own room, seated on Kelsey's bed.  
  
"I can't believe it," Kia said at last, voice subdued. "They're going to die..."  
  
Kelsey nodded silently. She glanced up as the door slowly opened, then blinked.   
  
Jin, Touya, Rei, Shishiwakamaru, Suzuki and Hiei shuffled into the room and up to the bed, slowly climbing up.  
  
"Don't be sad," Jin solemnly told Kia, climbing into her lap and touching her cheek with a chubby hand. "Why?"  
  
The girl swallowed hard. "Kelsey?"  
  
There was an audible sigh. "Go right ahead. I think I'll join you."  
  
Kia bowed her head and let the tears come. And they did, after she had retained them for so long...they came hard and fast. Kelsey was no better, and as the little youkai inched closer for comforting hugs, the entire little group was practically drenched in salty water. Hiei wrinkled his nose as a tear landed on it, then sneezed.   
  
The cryfest went on for about twenty minutes, before exhaustion set in. Rei nodded off first, then Touya. The Mirror Holders stayed awake until the last little sick youkai had dropped off to sleep, and then fell asleep themselves, curled up amidst their friends, determined to stay with them for the last hours of their existence.  
  
*OOC*  
  
This...is just so sad! *cries into a tissue* Anyway...once again, I do not own Chitsuko, Lexi-chan does. Please review; the next chapter will be up next Saturday, unless there is a change of plans.  
  
And here are the eighth and ninth ferrygirls, Himawari and Kouka!  
  
Name: Himawari  
  
Age: 375 (died at age 17)  
  
Birthday: August 19  
  
Clothing: Black kimono, yellow obi, orange kimono underneath  
  
Hair Color/Style: Blonde, with black tips, past the shoulders...wears it differently.  
  
Eye Color: Green  
  
Height: 5'7''  
  
Weight: 118 lbs.  
  
Name: Kouka  
  
Age: 45 (died at age 11)  
  
Birthday: January 24  
  
Clothing: Shrine maiden outfit...think Rei from Sailor Moon, Hinageshi, Kikyou from Inu-yasha, etc.  
  
Hair Color/Style: White, wears it in a low ponytail.  
  
Eye Color: Brown.  
  
Height: 4'8''  
  
Weight: 65 lbs.  
  
^^ See you all eventually! 


	16. Tears

^^ I'm back! Happy late New Years and so on and so forth. Lexi-chan (through mad skillz and creativity) has finished Liability, which means I have to do major speed-typing in order to catch up! The ironic thing is, once again, I am experiencing Internet complications, and so cannot post until Saturday…which was what I promised anyway, but STILL. (Correction: Until SUNDAY! Whoo!) ^^;; Ah, well. And…ah…yes. Densebyou is actually Densenbyou. Forgot the 'n' for this long…. Well, I've corrected the title, so that is that. Now, I present you with…chapter…16? ^^;; I think. Himawari (Sunflower) goes to Shiroi Hikari. She also got Kouka, but I'll give someone else a chance to get her, along with Keshi.  
  
God, it's good to be back…if all goes well, Kikyoku will go up…on…Sunday…I think. .  
  
…Oh, yes. Stupid Orcs.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
It seemed like she was doomed never to enjoy sleeping in. If it wasn't someone calling her name or shaking her, it was someone sitting on her feet, or--   
  
"Ouch…" Kia didn't feel like opening her eyes, for some strange reason that she couldn't yet fathom. But her feet seemed to have gone numb and…wait, WHY were her feet numb?  
  
"If I had Shishiwakamaru lyin' on my feet, I'd say 'ouch' too."  
  
The girl frowned slightly, opening her eyes with some reluctance. She gave a noticeable start as a calloused hand covered her mouth.   
  
"Don' want you wakin' everybody up just yet," the owner of the hand explained apologetically, slowly removing the appendage. Bright blue eyes studied her face with an air of concern. "…Kia?"  
  
The Mirror Holder had turned white under her tan. Her deep brown eyes were wide and the black pupils in the center were dilated. She looked incredibly disoriented. After a pause, she blinked once, and then words suddenly spilled from her mouth.  
  
"Inari, this is too cruel…no…this isn't real, I'm dreaming, it's--"  
  
"You're not dreamin'." A fully-grown Jin grinned encouragingly.  
  
"Then you're a ghost! It can't be--it's GONE, she destroyed it…oh, Inari…" She was trembling too badly to speak now.  
  
The Wind Master reached out, ensnaring the girl with one muscular arm and hugging her tightly. Kia clutched at his warm shoulder. He felt so SOLID! Surely that had to mean that he wasn't dead! The tears came unbidden, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to hold them back.  
  
"Ssh, lass, don't cry…" Jin touched her closed lids gently. When she reluctantly opened them, he leaned down, covering her mouth with his own. Her lips moved against his as she tried to say something, then gave up.  
  
"Aww…isn't that kawaii?" Kelsey sat up, beaming.  
  
Startled, the two sprang apart--well, Kia TRIED to, but ended up hitting somebody: Hiei, who was half-awake and also not so little anymore.  
  
"Kelsey!" Kia wailed, badly confused as she wiped the moisture out of her eyes. "How long have you been awake??"  
  
The blonde girl grinned, feigning supreme innocence. "Would you believe me if I told you that I just woke up and saw absolutely nothing?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Kuso. Truthfully, I've been awake for eighteen minutes, trying to figure out what the hell happened while we were sleeping." She shrugged. "Still haven't done it."  
  
Kia looked around, blinking. She and Kelsey had fallen asleep with several little youkai. Now they were surrounded by the same youkai…only they were back to their usual height and weight. Touching Hiei's forehead, she found his temperature relatively stable.   
  
"What…" She looked back at Kelsey and Jin, bewildered. "What's going on them?" Both of them shrugged, looking just as blank as she felt.  
  
"Cure," Hiei said hoarsely, trailing off in a dry cough as he sat up. "Bakas."  
  
Kelsey stuck out her tongue. "Nice to see you up and about and in such a sweet mood, Jaganshi. Note the extreme sarcasm in my voice."  
  
"Note that I don't give a damn what you want me to note," Hiei snapped, definitely not acting "sweet" at all.  
  
"Oh, go note yourself!"  
  
Jin and Kia watched the ridiculous exchange, both struggling to keep smiles from emerging. The next speaker showed how successful THAT was.  
  
"Oi, Kia, you might want to get away from Jin. He looks like he's going to be sick."  
  
"He's trying not to laugh," Kia explained.  
  
Suzuki sat up, shaking his head. "A bit crowded, isn't it? Did we have a slumber party or something?"  
  
The argument between Hiei and Kelsey finally ended with a last insult, courtesy of the blonde Mirror Holder.   
  
"Well, you'd better note that I note that YOUR notes aren't noteworthy of my note-taking abilities, you noteless midget!"  
  
Kia interceded before Hiei could reply (most likely in a manner that would get her friend fired up again). "No more noting, please. We still have to figure out how--"  
  
-I'll be quite happy to enlighten you.- Kage nosed the door open, padding in. Kurama followed, covering a yawn with his right hand. -I believe your redheaded friend suspected when he checked on you earlier this morning.-  
  
Rei stirred, blinking bright green eyes and running her hands through her tousled curls. "Party?" She asked brightly. "Wha's going on? What'm I doing here?"  
  
Kelsey turned to her. "You don't remember coming in here last night?"  
  
"Do YOU remember anything from when you were two?" Kia asked her, smiling slightly.  
  
"Yes," the girl said defensively. Her friend raised an eyebrow, and she sighed. "Point made and taken. So, Kage, you said you'd enlighten us…?"  
  
-I shall. Now, from what Kurama told me, the cure was destroyed at Mukuro's fortress, only used on those who were doused in it upon the moment of destruction. Am I correct?-  
  
Both girls nodded. Rei, Hiei, Jin, Suzuki, and Touya (who had awoken just now, while Kage was speaking) just looked confused.  
  
The dog settled down in a regal seated position, wrapping his tail neatly around his right hindquarter and resting it on his front paws. -Those cured had received a great amount of the liquid, when only a small amount would have sufficed. Therefore, the excess of it remained in your bodies. When you cried, it was released through your tears, just as potent once it touched the diseased youkai as it had been for you.-  
  
"So, in other words…" Kia couldn't seem to get her feet out from under the still-slumbering Shishiwakamaru and finally decided to be less gentle. "Excuse me for a second." With a jerk, she yanked her legs back, and the samurai hit the floor with a yell. Ignoring his furious rants, she went on. "As I was saying, in other words, YOU'RE saying that when Kelsey and I cried on everyone, they were cured because we had too much of the stuff in our systems, so it came out via cryfest?"  
  
-More or less.-  
  
"See, if I had let you cry before then, we may not have had enough to go around!" Kelsey jumped off the bed to hug a deeply unhappy Shishiwakamaru, grinning up at Kia. "I knew it all along."  
  
"Riiiight." Her friend wasn't taken in by that, judging by the skepticism in her tone. "And I'm an orange piglet with blue polka dots and a magenta-tipped tail."  
  
"But you're OUR orange piglet with blue polka dots and a magenta-tipped tail!" Rei said, pouncing on the girl and hugging her. "That's why we LOVE you!"  
  
There was a sulky snort from the grounded samurai. "I don't love her."  
  
"Aww, sure you do, Shishi!" Kelsey slung an arm over his shoulder. "You just love me better."  
  
"Too much love in the room." Hiei rolled his eyes. "I'm going to eat now."  
  
Thirty-five minutes later, everyone was stationed in the kitchen or the dining room, either cooking, cleaning, or eating…or just generally messing things up.  
  
"Chuu…are you SURE you know how to flip pancakes?" Kia asked, for about the sixteenth time. No, she wasn't being paranoid, just cautious. The drunkard had already burnt three eggs, disintegrated the bacon, and poured orange juice over Rinku's head, instead of into his glass. Rinku was quite sure that the last was purely intentional, but Chuu insisted he was innocent.  
  
"I'm sure. TRUST me, love!" The youkai winked at the smaller girl, who remained unconvinced. Placing his hands on her back, he firmly pushed her out of the kitchen.  
  
Hiei calmly sipped from his glass of water. "Your idiotic kindness will be the death of you, Mirror Holder."  
  
"I appreciate the concern and the statement of the obvious, Hiei." With a sigh, Kia dropped into a chair. Kurama handed her a food-laden plate and she got to work cleaning it off.  
  
Suddenly, there was a loud THUNK from the kitchen. Everyone looked up, and Kia winced. Another thud.  
  
"Shimatta." Kelsey pushed aside her plate and got up. Casting a longing glance at her eggs, Kia rose as well. They entered the kitchen.  
  
A griddle lay on the floor, still sizzling. Chuu was staring up at the ceiling apprehensively. The girls looked up also, and then Kelsey jumped back as a pancake fell to the floor from above.  
  
"CHUU," Kia said very slowly and deliberately. "What happened?"  
  
"I was flipping the griddle, and--"  
  
"You flipped the GRIDDLE?!"   
  
Everybody at the table winced as the girl's voice rose. Well, almost everybody. Hiei was now calmly nibbling his bacon.  
  
"It's probably a good thing that she's not full youkai," Touya commented. "Results would most likely be disastrous."  
  
"Keiko's full human, and she scares me more than Toguro ever did." Yusuke and Kuwabara had arrived, the former clutching a video tape in his hand. "Someone get them out of the kitchen. I have something to show you all. To the living room!" For some reason, he was smirking…NEVER a good sign, especially when it involved showing off something. It almost always embarrassed somebody.  
  
In due time, everyone was in the living room. Kelsey, Kia, Kurama, and Hiei were seated on the couch cushions, with Rei and Rinku perched on either side. The two Shinobi settled on the floor with Shishiwakamaru and Chuu. Suzuki took his usual chair, with Kage sitting at his feet. Yusuke handed the tape to Kuwabara with a flourish. "Pop it in, my good man."  
  
The boy was sniggering as he obeyed. "Made by Kuwabara and Urameshi Productions, inc." He flipped on the television and the screen turned blue for a few seconds. Then a few small numbers appeared on the bottom and Kuwabara's face replaced the blue.  
  
"Is this thing on, Urameshi? Bet I look sexy, huh?"  
  
Hiei gave a snort of contempt. "You brought us in here to watch that idiot PREEN?"  
  
"You'll see!" Yusuke replied in a singsong voice, still wearing that smirk.  
  
The others turned their attention back to the screen. Kuwabara was now approaching a three-year-old Hiei with a ratty stuffed bear. The Hiei watching stiffened.  
  
"You want the bear, Hiei?" Kuwabara asked, waving the toy tantalizingly in the toddler's face. Hiei grabbed for it, but the other jerked it away.  
  
"Noooo! MINE!" Obviously, Hiei did not like being teased. His little face was turning bright red.  
  
"Too bad, midget!" Kuwabara said mirthfully. He continued to taunt the little boy with the bear until Hiei burst into tears. And Kuwabara's shirt burst into flames.  
  
The occupants of the living room watched the screaming Tantei run back and forth like a headless chicken while Hiei (with a defiant mutter of "MY bear!") curled up with the bear, contentedly sucking his thumb. The hysterical laughter in the background obviously belonged to Yusuke. The screen went static-y, then faded to black. Kuwabara ejected the tape, cheeks flushed.  
  
The audience sat stunned for a moment. Then Suzuki leaned over and poked Hiei.   
  
"You want the bear, Hiei?"  
  
Chuu, Rei, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Shishiwakamaru howled with laughter. Kelsey didn't dare speak, for fear of joining them. Rinku and Jin were both grinning widely, and Kia, Kurama, and Touya were doing their best to remain expressionless.  
  
"Yusuke Urameshi, I'm going to kill you." That was all Hiei said, but it was more than enough. Yusuke was off and running for his life, with the Jaganshi pursuing him.  
  
The others exchanged glances warily. The laughter died down. Then Suzuki spoke up again.  
  
"You want the bear, Hiei?" He made his voice high and squeaky. "MY bear!" And then he stuck his thumb into his mouth.  
  
That did it. Every single person in the room burst out laughing. Even Touya was chuckling, and Kurama laughed so hard, he cried.  
  
As Kia sat there, propped against Kelsey, she could only think that she had missed this a lot. And she was grateful that there'd be a lot more moments like this to enjoy with her friends.  
  
"Arigato…"  
  
*OOC*  
  
Well, then. One more chapter to go, so please review! ^^ If anything, the trip gave me time to finish writing chapters in the car, so I just have to transfer them here. Thus, I have three chapters of Kikyoku done and am working on the fourth. NEXT (and last!) chapter!  
  
* Christmas preparations! Including Chuu snitching cookies, Touya having problems with the tinsel, and Yusuke teaching Kia the Rei gun. Now if only she could get it to stop…o.o  
  
* It's a brief visit to the Makai, where Ashita seems to be acting very mysterious…  
  
* Christmas day! Presents galore, a few sweet moments, and now Kurama has a Mirror Holder giving him love advice. ^^;; I rather like the ending…wasn't planning on it, but hey…  
  
And our last ferrygirl, Keshi! Now, don't worry…I'm going to try and get the last chapter up in the same day as this one. If no one guesses her name by then, I'll announce the winner in Kikyoku. Which I will anyway. ^^  
  
Name: Keshi  
  
Age: 785 (died at age 14)  
  
Birthday: June 24  
  
Clothing: Red kimono, gold obi, orange kimono underneath  
  
Hair Color/Style: Red, usually wears it in short pigtails.   
  
Eye Color: Violet.  
  
Height: 5'2''  
  
Weight: 104 lbs.  
  
Personality: Impulsive.  
  
^^ Good luck! Thanks to Lexi-chan for updating lots and giving me inspiration to…pester Mom to drive faster. ^^;; 


	17. Merry Christmas

This is getting frustrating…I want my Internet back and I wants it NOW! I wants it now, my precious…  
  
*cough* Anyway, this is the last chapter of Densenbyou. It was a real pleasure doing this and I hope I'm just as lucky with Kikyoku. I will get all sappy and sentimental at the end, as usual. But if you think THAT'S bad, wait until I finish Kikyoku. I'll have to keep a tissue box handy. But good things come with the bad! Co-write with Lexi-chan comes soon after! And Touketsu comes whenever I'm not preoccupied. Whew…  
  
I'm getting off track again. Well, here you go. The last chapter of Densenbyou!!  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
There remained only five days until Christmas, and everybody feverishly dove into preparations for the holiday. Kia and Kurama occupied the kitchen, cooking up a storm. Once, Chuu and Yusuke had made the error of entering and sampling a few of the cookies. Kia hadn't said anything, merely picked up the greased cookie sheet, slid the remaining cookies off onto a piece of tinfoil, and closed her eyes. And then she proceeded to chase the two cookie thieves out of the kitchen while Kurama stood by, watching mildly.  
  
Yusuke finally made it up to the irate Mirror Holder by taking her outside and teaching her the Rei Gun technique. Hiei and Kelsey sat in a tree to observe and the others stayed inside, content to view the proceedings from the windows.  
  
After about forty-five minutes, the tip of Kia's right index finger began to glow. A small blue light, laced through with silver, formed.  
  
"Now yell 'Rei Gun!' and release it," Yusuke instructed her.  
  
The girl blinked, looking at him. "Does it matter what you actually call out?"  
  
Yusuke also blinked, wondering where this was going…and not sure if he wanted to know. "I…I guess not, but…"  
  
"Let's try it." Kia carefully aimed her glowing finger at a nearby tree, frowned in concentration, then yelled "TOOTHPICK!"  
  
The light sped away from her in a large blast, hit the tree, and sliced it neatly in half. Yusuke's jaw dropped.  
  
"Guess it works!" Kelsey called down to her friend. "Nice choice of words…word."  
  
The brunette smiled modestly. "Just testing. I probably wouldn't do that in battle."  
  
"It'd confuse them," Hiei pointed out. Privately, he was amused, but you'd never guess it from the flatness of his tone.  
  
"Uh…Kia…" Yusuke tapped his "student" on the shoulder. When she turned, he pointed. "Did you forget something?"  
  
The blast from the Rei Gun was still going strong, continuing to break down snow-covered trees and leaving a fiery mess in its wake.  
  
"…Oh, bloody CRAP." Kia ran after it, waving her arms frantically. "Come back! Heel! Stop! Halt! Desist! P?relo! SIT! Touyaaaaaa, I need you!!"  
  
Of course, that was on Saturday. On Sunday, Touya got into a tussle with the tinsel when he tried to hang it on the tree and almost strangled himself. It took Kelsey and Kia three hours to untangle him, and they were laughing too hard to concentrate properly.  
  
On Monday, Rinku tricked Kelsey into standing under the mistletoe with him. Shishiwakamaru grew so jealous that he shoved the boy out of the way and kissed Kelsey instead…which was what Rinku had intended all along. Suzuki admiringly called him a "devious little matchmaker" and told him that he had a promising future ahead of him.  
  
Chuu, Rinku, Shishiwakamaru, Suzuki, Jin, Touya, and the Mirror Holders went to Makai from Tuesday to Wednesday, for their own reasons. Kelsey had her doubts when she saw the others headed off in the same direction, but they refused to say where they were going. Shishiwakamaru, after Kelsey had turned the "puppy dog eyes" on him, had muttered that they were going to see a friend, and left it at that.  
  
As for the Mirror Holders, they had their own agenda. They'd dressed for the season, both wearing skirts and long-sleeved tops of red velvet, trimmed in glistening fake white fur. Kelsey sported a Santa cap and Kia had tucked a poinsettia behind her right ear. And now they were ready to spread Christmas cheer.  
  
Their first stop was Mukuro's fortress, where they surprised the demon lord with a Santa cap for her and candy canes for her entire army. Kelsey produced a camera and actually convinced Mukuro to take a picture with them. If anyone ever entered the woman's bedroom, one of the first things you'd see would be a color photograph tacked to the wall. In it, Mukuro was being hugged by two teenaged girls, a blonde and a brunette in Christmas outfits. A young man with gray cat ears was giving the brunette bunny ears, and everyone was laughing.  
  
Tsukai stopped by to drop off the finished cure and to give the girls a ride to Ashita's. The Creator was delighted to see them again, after so long, and they patiently endured her exclamations of how much they'd grown. She'd gotten into the spirit of the holidays as well, changing her eye color to match. The left iris was green, the right was red.  
  
"You've been given an enormous burden," Ashita said at one point, as they sat down in different-sized armchairs. "And I'm afraid it will only get worse before it gets better."  
  
Kia sniffed warily at her cup of eggnog, wrinkling her nose slightly. "Do you know something, Ashita?"  
  
The white-haired Creator shook her head. "Not enough. It will be some time before it happens."  
  
"Before WHAT happens?" Kelsey asked, drinking her own eggnog without hesitation.  
  
Ashita sighed, sprinkling a few fruitcake crumbs into the sea monkey bowl. "If I could, I'd protect you…but the past cannot be changed and feelings cannot be spared."  
  
For a moment, there existed silence. Then…  
  
"Before WHAT happens?" Kelsey said again.  
  
"Oh, you!" Chuckling, Ashita rose. "You'll get nothing else from me, my dear Mirror Holder. Now, back home with you. It's Christmas Eve."  
  
"Aww…" Both girls said petulantly.  
  
"Don't 'aww' me, girls! Shoo!" She hugged them warmly, then sent them off. They rendezvoused with their friends in Ningenkai and headed home just in time to see a bunch of carolers run screaming from a floating Jin in playful spirits.  
  
Thursday, Christmas morning. Rei decided to wake everyone up early. She achieved this by running through the house with Axe, screaming "HO HO HO AND A BOTTLE OF EGGNOG, ME HEARTIES!" at the top of her lungs.  
  
Kia groaned, squinting at the alarm clock on her desk. "She's crazy. 'S only five o'clock…"  
  
"Merry Christmas, grump!" Kelsey, seated on her bed, tossed a Santa cap to her. The other girl muttered sleepily and sat up, unbound brown hair spilling over her shoulders, before she dutifully plunked the hat on her head.  
  
"Merry Christmas!" Jin burst into the room, wearing an ear-to-ear grin. "C'mon, there are PRESENTS!" Before Kia could protest, he had flung her over his shoulder and bounced into the living room, followed by an amused Kelsey.  
  
"Hey!" Suzuki looked up as they approached, decked-out in the entire Santa Clause ensemble, complete with fake white beard and extra padding.  
  
"Morning, Suzuki…" Kia slid down, yawning. "You sure got into the Christmas spirit, didn't you?"  
  
The blonde youkai grinned. "I figure I have to look the part of Sandy Clause."  
  
"That would be SANTA Clause, I believe." Touya walked into the room, still in his gray silk pajamas. Rinku and Chuu followed. "Merry Christmas," he added, casting a wary glance at the tinsel glittering innocently on the tree.  
  
Rei now had a specific target. As Shishiwakamaru opened the door for Kurama, the Kuwabara siblings, Yusuke, Keiko, Yukina, and Botan, Hiei shot past, intent on escaping his pursuer. The priestess gave chase, waving a Santa cap wildly.   
  
"YOU HAVE TO BE FAT AND JOLLY, HIEI! PUT ON THE HAT!"  
  
"Get away from me," the Jaganshi gritted, stepping closer to the Christmas tree.  
  
Kurama had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. No, Hiei…don't do it…  
  
"GOTCHA!" Rei shrieked suddenly, lunging for Hiei.  
  
It happened. The third eye on Hiei's forehead flashed, and the tree branches began to smoke, small flames leaping on the pine.  
  
Everyone froze for a moment, and then they all started to talk at once. (A/N: Who wants to guess who says what? ^^)  
  
"Save the presents!"  
  
"Forget the presents, save ME!!"  
  
"Okay, fine. You can be an elf! You're about the right size, anyway."  
  
"Rei…"  
  
"A reindeer! Here's your red nose!"  
  
"REI…"  
  
"NO, HIEI! NOT THE ELECTRIC LI-"  
  
FOOOOOOOOOM.  
  
"SHIT!"  
  
"Hiei, you BAKA! You're just like the Grinch!"   
  
"Who?"  
  
"Evacuate! EVACUATE!!"  
  
-It never gets boring around here, I'll admit.-  
  
Apart from the tree-burning incident, it was actually a very nice Christmas. The presents were saved and passed around to their recipients. Kage ended up with a pile of bones and a handsome red collar. Botan was thrilled with the jar of oar varnish from Kelsey, and Suzuki had bought some Makai whiskey for Chuu, who celebrated by opening it right then and there and getting drunk. Rinku was already breaking in his new yo-yos, courtesy of Shishiwakamaru and Keiko ran around, showing off her new gold bracelet, courtesy of Yusuke.  
  
Among the more memorable presents were a new katana for Hiei from the Mirror Holders (he always seemed to be breaking his) and purple eye shadow from Yusuke. Once again, the Tantei had to run. Kia, after noticing Jin's sensitivity to cold, had knitted a vivid bright blue scarf for him. It had actually taken her two months to complete the damned thing, but the ecstatic smile on Jin's face when he tried it more than made up for it. Shishiwakamaru and Suzuki had collaborated and made Kelsey a fine sword of blue steel and a handsome hilt. She was thrilled. Kuwabara had gotten Touya a Sno-cone machine. The Ice Master was still puzzling over it.  
  
At one point, Jin led Kia outside and presented her with an intricately-carved wooden whistle, no longer than her hand. "It's a bird whistle," he explained, noting the curious expression on her face. "Try it."  
  
Kia nodded and lifted the whistle to her lips, blowing it carefully. A pure warbling note emerged, high and clear. For a moment, there was absolute silence as the two stood there under the wintry sky. And then the sky was abruptly filled with birds. Sparrows, cardinals, even little hummingbirds hovered, wings beating the air to stay aloft.  
  
The girl's eyes widened. "Oh…"  
  
"Thought it might come in handy, some day, some how." The redheaded Wind Master smiled bashfully. "Like now, for instance." When his companion glanced at him quizzically, he pointed up. A bluebird glided down, chirping softly. And then Kia noticed something.  
  
"What's that attached to its leg?" She blinked as the bird perched on her lifted fingers, raising its leg so she could relieve it of its burden. She did so, lifted the item up, then gasped. "Jin--"  
  
The item she grasped was a simple silver ring, but as the bluebird took flight once more and the girl turned the cool metal in her fingers, she saw a single word etched on the inside. Promise.  
  
"Can't tell you what the promise is yet." Jin hugged her from behind, lowering his head to rest his chin on her shoulder. "That, lass, is somethin' you'll have to wait for."   
  
Kia turned around to face him, flinging her arms around his neck. "I'll wait, then. I'm not going anywhere."  
  
The ensemble of birds above chorused agreement.  
  
******  
  
Kia sat on the roof, the faint light of the stars overhead reflected in her dark eyes. She was still in her flannel pajamas and her hair remained down, but a playful gust of wind had plucked the Santa cap from her head and it now lay in the snow below.  
  
"Mind if I join you?" Kurama hoisted himself onto the roof, cheeks pink from the cold.  
  
"No, go right ahead," the girl replied, scooting over to make room for him. "What brings you here, Kurama?"  
  
The Youko smiled, settling down beside her. "I just felt like stargazing…and Rei's trying to put reindeer antlers on Hiei."  
  
Kia winced. "That can't be good."  
  
He chuckled, then pulled a crumpled photograph from his shirt pocket. He smoothed it down, studying it with a saddened expression. The Mirror Holder recognized the golden-haired girl in the picture, smiling at the camera with shining blue-gray eyes.  
  
"You miss her, don't you?" Kia's voice was soft as she glanced down at the photo, then up at her friend. "Chitsuko?"  
  
Kurama nodded. "It's just been so long…" There was something odd in his keen emerald oculars, and the girl suddenly realized something.  
  
"You…" The brunette hesitated, and then pressed on. "You love her."  
  
The Youko flinched, then attempted to smile. "You're observant."  
  
"No--you're just painfully obvious." Kia grinned, before becoming more serious. "Did you tell her?"  
  
He sighed. "I…um…ah…no, not yet."  
  
"Then do me a favor, Kurama." The girl stared at him solemnly. "The next time you see her, tell her." She closed her eyes and bowed her head, swallowing against a lump that had suddenly sprouted in her throat. "I've seen what it's like…not to tell someone that you care for them…and I never want to see it again." (A/N: Okay, technically, Binetsu TRIED…x.x)  
  
"Binetsu?" The redhead asked gently. When she nodded, he patted her shoulder. "And you, Kia? Have YOU told-"  
  
"OI! KIA! KURAMA! GET DOWN HERE!" That was Kelsey.  
  
The two looked at each other, standing up. "I'll tell her," Kurama promised, ruffling Kia's brown hair. "For now, let's go see what your friend wants."  
  
As it turned out, there had been one last present, labeled for Suzuki. When the two Mirror Holders saw the shape, they immediately knew what it was.  
  
"It doesn't say who it's from," the puzzled inventor remarked, turning to the group. "Did any of you…?" He trailed off as they shook their heads.  
  
"Open it," Shizuru suggested. Suzuki did so, and as the colorful wrapping paper fell away, he gasped. The others peered at it closely.  
  
"It's a funnel," Hiei scoffed. Kelsey cuffed him and he glared at her. "Touch me again and die."  
  
The blonde martial artist ran his fingers over the metal piece. When he turned it, a small white card fluttered to the floor. Touya silently picked it up and handed it to Suzuki.  
  
"What's it say? What's it say??" Rinku jumped up and down, trying to see.  
  
"It says…" Suzuki's voice shook slightly as he read it aloud. "'I'm sorry'."  
  
"Who would've sent you that?" Keiko asked, bewildered.  
  
"Did someone anger you, Suzuki-san?" Yukina added.  
  
"Once, long ago…" And then Suzuki lowered his head. To the surprise of everyone (except for a few), tears rolled down his face.  
  
"Oh, Binetsu…" Kia wiped her own watering eyes.  
  
"I guess sometimes compassion DOES come in handy." Kelsey hugged her friend around the shoulders. "Good job, Cookie Sheet."  
  
"Don't even start," the girl grumbled. "Come on, let's go get tissues for the Weeping Wonder."  
  
A pair of eyes, one brown, one blue, watched the girls run off, before they faded out, leaving only a faint giggle on the wind.  
  
-Owari-  
  
*OOC*  
  
It's done! It's done! Yay! I am very happy…and I really enjoyed writing this one too. Definitely the fastest I've ever done a DnK story. Not as fast as Lexi-chan, but…^^;; Ah, well. Anyway…next…story? *sweatdrops* Oh, wait…my sentimental sappy moment.  
  
Thanks to all of my reviewers for giving me hope that people actually enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoy writing them. Much love to you all and…cookies for all!  
  
An extra-special thank you to Celebrindae, kimpfn, and Kelsey for being there! And for introducing me to some pretty strange stuff…yes, Bara-chan, that means Toey and the freaky legged bread…  
  
And lastly, an extra-extra-special thank you to Lexi-chan! You've been with me through all of Densenbyou and I'm extremely grateful! Your mad updating skillz have inspired me, and it's you I have to thank for this story getting done so quickly. I can't wait to do the co-write for you…it definitely promises to be interesting, and excellent character use of Kaeru! You did my Koorime justice! Them Orcs will never get YOU down! ^.~  
  
Please review. Kikyoku will be up…soon. I think. Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe maybe. Just a warning, it's a bit darker than the other three stories. All I WILL say is that there are three very important deaths, but I can't say who, what, how, and why. Only a few know anyway. ^^ Please stick with me while I muddle through Kikyoku! Thanks again! As for a preview thingy…  
  
* Something horrible happens to Kelsey! Once again, Kia is faced with a time limit as she races to save her friend.  
  
* In order to save Kelsey, Kia has to journey to the past! (A/N: Damn you, Anastasia!) Which means meeting her mother, her grandmother, and a certain vain Youko…uh-oh!  
  
* Anyone who ever took the personality quiz will finally meet Osore… 


End file.
